A sort of pytt

I guess you could call this dish a more modern version of pyttipanna, the Swedish classic. Pyttipanna (wich my dictionary tells me translates as hash) is usually made of potatoes, onions, maybe some other vegetables such as carrots, and some sort of meat. It is all diced and then fried. It is a good way to deal with left overs, and is traditionally eaten with pickled red beets and a fried egg on top. More modernized version can be vegetarian, or contain fish or chicken, and if you're really radical you could even substitute the potatoes with for example bulgur, like I have done here.

The hardest part of this dish is to dice the vegetables. I know some people find repetetive kitchen tasks, such as making match stick thin julienned carrots or dicing zucchini in perfect 1*1 cm dice, relaxing. I just find it boring. But apart from chopping up the veggies, this dish is a breeze to make. My version of ajvar relish is probably not very authentic, but I thought it tasted quite close to the kind I buy in jars at the grocery store, only fresher. I didn't add any chili to the ajvar since the chorizo was so spicy, but it can of course be spiced up if necessary.


Look at all the pretty colors! (Sorry about the poor quality photo, but since it gets dark by like four here it's impossible get any decent dinner photos.)

Vegetable bulgur with chorizo and home made ajvar relish
Serves 2 + 1 lunchbox

½ onion, finely chopped
2 small carrots, diced
½ yellow pepper, diced
½ zucchini, diced
125 g chorizo (or other spicy, flavorful sausage)
4 dl bulgur
2 dl water
Salt and black pepper



Ajvar relish
2 grilled red peppers (store bought or home made)
1 tbsp tomato puré
½-1 tbsp olive oil
salt
black pepper

Fry the vegetables slowly in some butter or oil, starting with the onions and carrots and adding the peppers and zucchini after a minute or so. Bring the water to a boil and add the bulgur. Cook on very low heat until the water is absorbed; it takes about 10 minutes. Cut up your sausage in some smaller chunks; I sliced it and then cut the slices in half. Add the sausage to the vegetables and let it fry for a while. When the bulgur is done, just add it to the pan with veggies and sausage and stir it all around. Season with salt and pepper.

For the ajvar, simply put all the ingredients into a food processor and make a puree. Serve the bulgur with ajvar relish and some plain yoghurt*.

*In Sweden, we get a kind of yoghurt especially suited for use with/in food (appropriately named "food yoghurt"). It is runnier than thick Greek or Turkish yoghurt, and more sour than the kind you eat for breakfast.