Hungarian Cottage Cheese Pasta (Túrós csusza)
Pasta became a part of Hungarian gastronomy somewhere at the beginning of the modern era. József Topits founded the first steam pasta factory in 1859 in Budapest which allowed the large-scale production of pasta. What makes this Hungarian cottage cheese pasta unique is the special combination of warm pasta cooked with cottage cheese and mixed with hot, crisp bacon strips. This combination is scrumptious as the cottage cheese melts into the pasta. Traditionally the pasta was torn into pieces, I prefer to make my own egg pasta and cut them into soft pillows.
Káposztás Tészta is another noodle dish made with cabbage and bacon or with a dumpling called Nokedili which is very delicious and unique. The Hungarians are known for their variety of pasta dishes and everyone of them my children gobbled up at dinner.
12 oz. wide noodle
16 oz. small curd cottage cheese
1/2 lb. bacon, chopped into small pieces
1/2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 tablespoons sour cream (optional)
Salt and pepper
Fry the bacon in a large pan until crisp. Drain and set aside.
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water. When it is al dente drain and add the cottage cheese. Cook on low until the cheese melted slightly, and everything is hot. Add the bacon, paprika and season with salt and pepper. If the pasta seems dry add sour cream to moisten.
Serve immediately on a platter and sprinkle paprika.
I love this dish ..have been making it for years but I was taught to put most of the bacon fat right in the dish.
Me too! I keep the fat in it too!
Hi,
Question, what kind of paprika? Sweet, hot, smoked, this looks like something I had while in Budapest and it was soooooooooo good!! I want to get it right – any brand recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Also, is it hard to make the noodles you do from scratch / have you posted the recipe for that? Thanks so much, excited to try!!
Hi,
Question, what kind of paprika? Sweet, hot, smoked, this looks like something I had while in Budapest and it was soooooooooo good!! I want to get it right – any brand recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Also, is it hard to make the noodles you do from scratch / have you posted the recipe for that? Thanks so much, excited to try!!
I use sweet Hungarian paprika from Hungary. A friend of mine brought it back for me from there. You can also buy sweet in most grocery stores, like Fred Meyer or Haggen. If you like a smokey flavor you could add a small amount with the sweet. Smoked paprika traditionally come form Spain. If you’d like to make Hungarian noodles you will find that recipe on my website https://culinaryimmigration.com/recipe/hungarian-egg-noodle/
yummy
Thanks!
I’ve made this for years as well. Keeping the bacon fat is what keeps the noodles from drying out. The egg noodles I purchase at the grocery store. My grandmother loved to use the no yolks brand medium egg noodles, not too wide. If you can find authentic paprika, you are sure to have the best results in flavor. Sometimes Co-ops have this as well. The kind in the tin can called Szeged is not as good. Hope this is helpful.
Yep, I use Hungarian paprika from my husband’s family. Thanks for commenting!
an old hungarian lady in line at the grocery with me told me about this. she saw i was buying top ramen and bacon already, said i should get some cottage cheese and told me the recipe. ive been making it for the 11 years since that day
Wow, awesome!
I grew up in a community where there were alot of eastern european people so I learned to eat Very well.
This past weekend we went to an ethinic festival and there was a Hungarian food that had noodle dumplings, cheese and bacon. I really liked the dumplings. So this recipe is good but for me the dumplings make it even better.
Wonderful, I’m glad you liked the Hungarian Food!
I grew up with this dish, but my father called it Machic*(spelling?) and the cottage cheese needed to be dried out in a cheese cloth. Has anyone ever heard of this? Other than different foods, I know very little of my Hungarian roots, or even correct spelling of the names of the dishes. But I appreciate the food!
Never heard of drying the cottage cheese out the name either.
My mom made a dish similar to this which I carried on and now my children serve it to there families. We are of Polish heritage and my mom called this lazy pierogis. She boiled sea shells then fried them in butter and onions then used the warmed cottage cheese like a sauce on top. We 5 kids gobbled it up.
That is awesome! Thanks for the comment.
My mom made us a similar dish as her grandmother was from Hungary. I see the comment about drying the cottage cheese but my mom used “dry curd cheese” which she rubbed into finer crumbs. She boiled the egg noodles, browned butter in a saucepan and poured it over the drained noodles, then mixed in the cheese. We LOVED it and now so do my own kids and my grandkids!
The simplicity of this classic dish is what makes it so good..but when i have the time and ingredients i add chopped onions and garlic to the bacon when frying.
You can order wonderful sweet or hot paprika made by a small producer in Szeged, Hungary from Burlap and Barrel. If you cook quite a lot of Hungarian dishes, I would definitely recommend them.
Thanks!
That’s fine, I do that occasionally!