Pommes de Terre à la Hongroise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) wide, heavy sauté pan with a lid
• •Thin metal or silicone spatula
• •Serrated vegetable peeler or small heatproof bowl for peeling tomatoes

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut the vegetables

   Peel the tomatoes with a serrated peeler, or score their skins and cover them with boiling water for 30 seconds before peeling. Halve them across the middle and press each half gently over a bowl to expel the seeds and thin juice, keeping the flesh intact, then slice it. Cut the peeled potatoes into even ⅜-inch (1 cm) roundels. Don't soak or rinse the slices; their surface starch helps the reduced consommé cling.

   Even thickness matters more than perfect circles. Thin and thick slices in the same pan cannot become tender together.
2. 2

   Soften onion and paprika

   Melt the butter in a wide, heavy 12-inch (30 cm) sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and paprika together and cook for 7 to 9 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is supple and translucent but not browned. This is faire suer, softening without color. Keep the heat gentle because paprika turns bitter when scorched. If the spice begins sticking or smelling sharp, pull the pan from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of the measured consommé to cool and loosen it. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Coat tomatoes and potatoes

   Add the pressed tomato and potato roundels. Turn them carefully through the paprika butter for 2 minutes, coating both faces without breaking their edges. The tomatoes will begin to collapse and tint the butter a warm brick red, but they should not fry dry.

4. 4

   Moisten and simmer

   Arrange the potatoes in no more than two loose layers. Pour in 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) of the warm consommé, then add only enough of the remainder to barely cover the roundels. Bring it to a quiet simmer, cover with the lid slightly ajar, and cook for 12 minutes. Remove the lid and continue at a calm simmer for 12 to 18 minutes, turning the potatoes once with a thin spatula and occasionally shaking the pan instead of stirring. The liquid should reduce steadily as the potatoes become tender.

5. 5

   Finish the reduction

   Test a thick roundel with the point of a knife. It should offer no hard center, while only a few spoonfuls of glossy liquid remain around the potatoes. If the liquid disappears before they are tender, lower the heat and add warm consommé ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) at a time, then cover for another few minutes. If the potatoes soften while too much liquid remains, lift them carefully to a warm plate and reduce the moistening briskly before returning them to the pan. Ça se rattrape. Fold in the parsley at the last moment, shake the pan until the sauce clings to every roundel, and serve directly from the pan. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose waxy yellow potatoes such as Yukon Gold. They hold a clean roundel while releasing enough starch to bind the sauce; floury baking potatoes fray and collapse before the consommé finishes reducing.
• •Use sweet, unsmoked Hungarian paprika, and replace any jar that smells dusty rather than fragrant. Smoked paprika would change the dish's character, while hot paprika would overwhelm the quiet butter-and-onion foundation.
• •The consommé must be lightly seasoned because reduction concentrates its salt. A clear homemade consommé is splendid, but a good prepared beef or veal consommé is the honest home equivalent to the stockpot the original recipe assumed.
• •Outside tomato season, use drained canned whole tomatoes. Press out their seeds and packing juice, then measure the flesh. An honest preserved tomato is better here than a pale fresh one.
• •Serve these potatoes beside roast veal, pork, chicken, or a plain omelette. Their paprika-rich sauce wants a light Gamay or a dry Pinot Blanc, not a heavy wine.

Advance Preparation

• •The onion may be chopped and the tomatoes peeled, pressed, and sliced up to 8 hours ahead. Refrigerate them separately and bring the tomatoes toward room temperature before cooking.
• •Cut the potatoes shortly before they enter the pan. Holding them in water removes the surface starch that helps form the sauce.
• •The finished dish is best served at once, but it can wait for up to 2 hours. Reheat it gently with 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of consommé, adding the parsley only after the sauce has tightened again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)