How to Make Hungarian Catfish Paprikash With Cottage Cheese Pasta

Experience these rich, smoky and creamy flavors of Hungary in this traditional catfish paprikash with cottage cheese pasta (harcsapaprikás túrós csuszával) recipe! We are doing it the authentic way, using "szalonna" (cured pork fat) for incredible depth and a creamy "túrós csusza" (cottage cheese pasta) on the side.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

For the stew:

400g Catfish fillet

300g Salo (cured pork fat is best, but any pork fat will do)

100g Wax pepper (sweet Hungarian pepper or any similar sweet pepper)

100g Tomato

100g Onion

2 Cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp White pepper

2 tbsp Sweet paprika powder

2 pcs Fish or chicken bouillon + 600ml water (or 600ml broth of the same)

100ml Heavy cream

50g Sour cream

3 tbsp Flour

For the pasta:

200g Square egg pasta (you can substitute with fazzoletti, maltagliati or lasagna broken into smaller pieces)

250g Cottage cheese

200g Sour cream

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

10g Fresh dill

Dice the salo into small cubes and fry over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the cubes become small, golden and crispy (cracklings). Separate the liquid fat from the crispy bits. Reserve the liquid fat for the stew and pasta. Set the crispy salo cubes aside to use as a topping.

Trim the fatty edges and the thin tail sections off the fish fillets. Set these scraps aside to flavor the broth. Cut the remaining fillet into large, uniform cubes.

Roughly chop the pepper, tomato, onion and garlic. Heat a pot over medium heat with approximately 30ml of the reserved liquid fat. Sauté the vegetables until soft. Add the salt, white pepper and paprika powder. Stir (do not let the paprika burn), then add the fish scraps you set aside. Pour in the 600ml of bouillon (or 600ml water if using cubes/jelly). Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Use a blender to process the base until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Return to medium-low heat. Stir in the heavy cream and sour cream. In a small bowl, create a slurry by mixing the flour with a little water, then whisk it into the stew. Gently add the large catfish cubes to the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes until the fish is tender and cooked through. Remove from heat and cover the pot.

Boil the pasta in salted boiling water for 7–8 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl. While the pasta is hot, mix it with the remaining liquid fat, cottage cheese, sour cream and finely chopped dill.

Plate the pasta on one side and the fish stew on the other. Sprinkle the crispy salo cracklings over the pasta and garnish with some extra dill. Enjoy this hearty, wholesome and flavorful Hungarian meal!