Leczo (Polish Vegetable and Sausage Stew)

Leczo is a Polish stew that’s made with lots of delicious vegetables (mostly bell peppers and tomatoes, but also zucchini) and smoked Polish kiełbasa sausage. It’s one of my favorite summer dinners – it’s sweet, smoky, light, yet filling. This is so easy to make and I promise, you won’t have enough of it!

What is leczo?

Leczo is a Polish dish with Hungarian origin. It’s based on the Hungarian tomato-bell pepper stew called lecsó, but with time it became so popular in many Polish homes that is now considered a Polish dish. I’ve been eating this my whole childhood in Poland and didn’t even know that it has a Hungarian origin!

Polish leczo differs a bit from Hungarian lecso. Hungarian lecso is served more as a side dish and made mostly with tomatoes and bell peppers while Polish leczo is often made with kielbasa, is served rather as a main dish, and usually contains more vegetables (for example zucchini is popular).

You could call this stew Polish ratatouille – but it’s thousand times better. Packed with vegetables and delicious Polish sausage, it’s sweet, smoky, and so flavorful. You HAVE TO try it!

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make leczo:

• Polish kielbasa – this is a smoked sausage and there are many kinds of it!
• Vegetables: tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, onion.
• Seasonings: fresh garlic, paprika (I recommend especially sweet Hungarian paprika), smoked paprika (sweet or hot, as you wish, you can also add more to make your leczo more smoky, I prefer a smaller amount, the sausage is already smoky), cayenne pepper (for some heat, also, add it to your taste), oregano, tomato paste.
• Outside of fresh tomato season, you can use tomato passata (tomato puree).

How to make leczo step by step

STEP 1: Prepare all the ingredients:

Cut kielbasa in half lengthwise and then into slices.
Cut zucchini in half lengthwise then again in half, then into slices.
Cut a shallow “X” in the bottom of each tomato, add them to a pot and pour in boiling water, leave for a couple of minutes then drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and dice the tomatoes.
Dice the onion and finely chop garlic (with a knife and not using a garlic press).
Cut bell peppers into strips.

Cook leczo:

STEP 2: Add oil to a large pot and heat over medium-high heat. Add kielbasa slices and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring from time to time, until kielbasa is browned.

STEP 3: Reduce the heat to medium/medium-low and add onions. Cook for a couple of minutes until softened.
Add garlic, paprika, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne. Cook for 30 seconds.

STEP 4: Add bell peppers, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

STEP 5: Add tomato paste, zucchini, and tomatoes. Scrape with a spatula all the brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
Cook over medium heat, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, or until all the vegetables are soft and the stew is thickened.
Take the pot off the heat and season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with sourdough bread slices with butter.
Enjoy!

Serving suggestions

I like this dish most with good bread and butter – you can’t beat this combination.

Other good options are Polish potato pancakes (placki ziemniaczane) or cooked pearl barley.

Storage

This will keep well in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Simply reheat it in a pot – it’s delicious. It also freezes really well. It’s a perfect dish to make a whole large pot of to have for dinner for a couple of days and then freeze!

More delicious Polish recipes you may like

• Pork Stew (Polish Pork Goulash)
• Chicken Kyiv (Cutlet De Volaille)
• Łazanki – Polish noodles with cabbage, kiełbasa, and mushrooms
• Zapiekanki (Polish pizza)
• Gołąbki – Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
• Kotlety mielone (Polish meat patties)
• Mizeria (Polish cucumber salad)

Here you’ll find all my Polish recipes.

Leczo (Polish Vegetable and Sausage Stew)

Leczo is a Polish stew that’s made with lots of delicious vegetables (mostly bell peppers and tomatoes, but also zucchini) and smoked Polish kiełbasa sausage. It’s one of my favorite summer dinners – it’s sweet, smoky, light, yet filling. This is so easy to make and I promise, you won’t have enough of it!

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Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 326kcal

Author Aleksandra

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 tablespoons oil
• ▢ 11 ounces (300g) smoked kiełbasa
• ▢ 1 large onion
• ▢ 5 cloves garlic
• ▢ 2 teaspoons paprika preferably sweet Hungarian paprika
• ▢ 2 teaspoons oregano
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika or more, to taste
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ▢ 3 bell peppers
• ▢ 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• ▢ 1 medium zucchini
• ▢ 2 pounds (900g) tomatoes
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ sourdough bread to serve

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Instructions

• Prepare all the ingredients:
• Cut kielbasa in half lengthwise and then into slices.
• Cut zucchini in half lengthwise then again in half, then into slices.
• Cut a shallow “X” in the bottom of each tomato, add them to a pot and pour in boiling water, leave for a couple of minutes then drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and dice the tomatoes.
• Dice the onion and finely chop garlic (with a knife and not using a garlic press).
• Cut bell peppers into strips.
• Cook leczo:
• Add oil to a large pot and heat over medium-high heat. Add kielbasa slices and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring from time to time, until kielbasa is browned.
• Reduce the heat to medium/medium-low and add onions. Cook for a couple of minutes until softened.
• Add garlic, paprika, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne. Cook for 30 seconds.
• Add bell peppers, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.
• Add tomato paste, zucchini, and tomatoes. Scrape with a spatula all the brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
• Cook over medium heat, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, or until all the vegetables are soft and the stew is thickened.
• Take the pot off the heat and season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with sourdough bread slices with butter.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• Outside of fresh tomato season, you can use tomato passata (tomato puree).
• Calories = 1 serving (1/4 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!

Course Main Course

Cuisine polish

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