Home Cooking Basics: Hungarian Casserole

It's been getting colder at night so I've been breaking out the comfort food. I thought I would give this one a go this week for the first time.


Hungarian Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 green capsicum
• 1 red capsicum
• 1 onion
• Four large potatoes
• 3 carrots
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 30g butter
• 440g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 250ml / 1 cup vegetable stock
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 2 teaspoons paprika

Crispy Croutons

• 4 slices white bread
• 1 cup olive oil

Directions
Cut the capsicums in half, remove the seeds and roughly chop. Chop the onion. Cut the potatoes and carrots into large chunks. Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy-based frying pan and cook the potatoes and carrots over medium heat. turning regularly, until crisp on the edges.

Add the onion and red and green capsicum and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes, vegetable stock, caraway seeds and paprika. Season to taste. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

To make the croutons, remove the crusts from the bread and cut the bread into small cubes. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the bread, turning often, for 2 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Drain on paper towel. Serve the croutons with the casserole.

 

Ingredients ready to go in. The carrots weren't in the original recipe but I thought it needed more vegetables in it.

  

Capsicums roughly cut.

  

Roughly cut potatoes and carrots.

  

Cooking potatoes and carrots in oil and butter.

  

Adding in capsicums, onion, vegetable stock.

  

With the addition of tinned tomatoes. I added in two fresh tomatoes chopped as well as my tinned tomato was only 410g.

  

Bread cut into cubes.

 

Cooked after simmering for about 20 mins. The potatoes were cut too big so it took a long time to cook.

  

Croutons lightly fried.

  

Dished up with the croutons on top.

The flavour of the sauce was really nice and the vegetables were really delicious with the sauce slowly cooked through them. Next time I will add some more vegetables and maybe some mixed beans. I'd also like to try it with sweet potato instead as it's lower GI.