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Hungarian Cottage Cheese Pasta – Túrós Csusza

Hungarian pasta with cottage cheese - Turos Csusza

Hungarian cottage cheese pasta, or as we call it Túrós csusza is a traditiona ldish, a simple but filling meal, one of my favorites ever. The most important ingredient is the fried Szalonna, I am a huge fan of the crispy smoked pork fat. You can find this dish on restaurants menus, and also favored by students for its simplicity and low budget. I never bake it, however you will find recipes that make this dish that way.

What is smoked porke fat, called Szalonna?

Szalonna is the preserved (salted or smoked) pork fat, it is more like Italian lardo or the salo of Slavic nations.
You can eat it without cooking or preparation other than a sprinkle of dried paprika powder. It is delicious with fresh white bread and slices of onions.
Hungarians eat szalonna in all kinds of shapes, styles, and situations, but most of it will end up being used in soups, stews, or other traditional dishes. We also roast szalonna over open fire, it can be a fan social acitvity with friends on a hot summer evening. My parents always did it in the morning and that was our breakfast.

There are many different szalonna combinations possible, raw, salted and cured, smoked and cooked, with our without meat on it, with or without paprika.

Hungarian pasta with cottage cheese - Turos Csusza

Hungarian pasta with cottage cheese and bacon (Túrós Csusza)

Túrós csusza is a traditional Hungarian pasta dish, a simple but filling meal, one of my favorites ever. You can find it on restaurants menus, and also favored by students for its simplicity and low budget. I never bake it, however you will find recipes that make this dish that way.
Total Time 25 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Hungarian
Servings 4

Equipment

  • Medium pot
  • Frying pan
  • Cutting board
  • Chef's knife
  • Wodden spoon
  • Measuring cup

Ingredients
  

  • 17.6 ounces Dried square pasta 500 grams
  • 17.6 ounces Dry cottage cheese (curd cheese, farmer’s cheese) 500 grams
  • 10.5 ounces Bacon fat or szalonna (preserved – salted and smoked – fatty cuts of pork) 300 grams
  • 1 cup Sour cream
  • Salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • Cook the pasta in salted water according to package instructions, rinse under cold running water, drain.
  • Cut the bacon fat into smaller pieces, put them in a pan and cook over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes until the fat is released and they are crisp and browned.  Take them out of the liquid fat.
  • Add 3-4 tablespoons of the liquid fat to the pasta, add most of the crisp and browned bacon (keep some for serving), mix in 3/4 of the cottage chesse amount.
  • To serve, spoon extra cottage cheese and sour cream on top, and place the rest of the fried bacon fat.
  • Enjoy!
Hungarian pasta with cottage cheese - Turos Csusza
Keyword cottage cheese pasta

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