Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Hungarian-Style Shepherd’s Stew with Potatoes and Sausage
In Bokros, Hungary, home cook Erzsebet Buzder-Lantos taught us her favorite childhood dish, a hearty stew called keménytarhonya, also known as pásztortarhonya. The star ingredient is tarhonya, a pellet-like pasta. For our version, we use fregola, a type of Sardinian pasta, but pearl couscous is an easier-to-source alternative. Whichever you use, toast it until golden brown before simmering. This brings out the nutty, wheaty notes. As for the sausage, without easy-to-source Hungarian options, we use Cajun andouille, which has a spiciness and smokiness that pair well with the other flavors in the stew.
6
Servings
Tip
Don’t forget to cover the pot when cooking the pasta. If too much liquid evaporates, the stew will be overly thick and starchy.
1 hour
Ingredients
-
½
cup drained roasted red peppers, patted dry
-
2
tablespoons tomato paste
Directions
-
01In a blender, combine the roasted peppers, tomato paste, vinegar, paprika, cayenne and ¼ teaspoon salt. Puree, scraping the blender jar as needed, until smooth, about 30 seconds; set aside. (Alternatively, combine the ingredients in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.)
Reviews
May 26, 2026
Delicious
Very tasty and fairly simple to make. I don’t eat pork, so used 12 oz of chicken sausage. I think chicken thighs (cooked for longer obviously) would be excellent in this. Loved the dill and sour cream on top.
March 29, 2026
A winter staple
This recipe makes our menu plan regularly during the winter. If you're in the Cleveland area, RAddell's makes a wonderful Hungarian Sausage - you can find it at Heinen's! We also use maftoul from the local middle-eastern market instead of the fregola - it's a bit heartier, so we toast it in a separate saucepan and then cover it with water to get it started cooking while everything else comes together.
January 12, 2026
Packs a Tasty Punch
I loved this recipe, few ingredients that come together in this super flavorful, spicy and hearty stew! Great for a winter dinner. I used smoked sausage from a local Barbecue restaurant and Israeli couscous.
January 9, 2026
Great flavor
There's something about the red peppers that make this just delicious. We usually up the recipe by 50%. So it'll last a little longer in the fridge, otherwise before you know it, it's gone!
December 1, 2025
So yummy even with special diet modifications!
With allergies to cow’s milk, eggs, wheat, tomatoes, shellfish, beef, peanuts and chocolate, I’m always happy to find flavorful recipes that need very little alteration to add to my repertoire. We skipped the tomato paste and added a few sliced mushrooms for the umami. We substituted gluten-free corn based Ancini de Pepe for the fregola pasta, and we used a thick and creamy goats milk yogurt instead of the sour cream garnish. Now this recipe is one of our wintertime favourites. Very easy and very yummy!
Become A Subscriber To Rate and Review All Our Recipes.
Please Log in or join today for $1.
