Pogácsa is the king of Hungarian savory pastries. These tasty, circular sour cream and cheese biscuits are relatively easy to make, especially if you knead the dough a day before, and let it rest in the fridge overnight. On the day of baking, you only have to spend time on shaping.
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Simple tomato sauce – Egyszerű paradicsomszósz
This simple tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes is great on pasta, but can be used as an element in many different dishes.
Arugula-apple salad – Almás rukkolasaláta
This simple but perfect recipe, using peppery arugula, crisp apple slices, and crunchy almonds, comes from the cookbook Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World by Sam Kass.
Kohlrabi and carrot casserole – Karalábé-sárgarépa rakottas
Here is a great dish, which is especially perfect when kohlrabies are in season. It uses six different vegetables and some ground meat, but, in my opinion, the meat could also be left out.
Raspberry-yogurt cream – Joghurtos málnakrém
This simple, super easy, refreshing fruit dessert will satisfy your cravings for something delicious, and the recipe is very flexible.
Raspberry curd cream – Málnás túrókrém
My trusted cookbooks, which I’ve been collecting for more than four decades, and which I consult very often, are written by the Hungarian cook Mari Lajos.
Soffritto, mirepoix, sofrito – Alap zöldségtrió
In many different cuisines, the trinity of onions, carrots, and celery serves as the flavor base for a variety of different dishes. It can be the base for soups, stews, and ragues.
Simple pasta salad – Egyszerű tésztasaláta
Some people believe that for pasta salad fusilli is the right type. But pasta can take on many different shapes, and you cannot go wrong if you use bowtie (also known as farfalle), rotini, penne, or even angel hair pasta.
Easy duck confit – Omlós kacsacomb
Ever since a friend of mine told me about a local grocery store where one can often buy duck legs, we started purchasing them quite regularly, because we love to eat duck.
Crispy roasted chickpeas – Ropogós sült csicseriborsó
This is a simple, healthy, and delicious snack. You can use canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or cook the dried ones yourself. It’s great on its own or as a way to enhance your salads.
Homemade hummus – Házi hummusz
It’s so easy to make this Middle Eastern classic, regardless of whether you start with dried chickpeas and cook them yourself, or if you are using drained canned chickpeas.
Sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraîche – Édesburgonya hasábok citromnádas crème fraîche-vel
This recipe is one of the 120 vibrant vegetable recipes from the wonderful cookbook Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. The book was a present a few years ago from my dear friend, Kathy, and since then it inspires me to eat more vegetables.