Rakott krumpli

The story

Rakott krumpli means layered potatoes, and it is one of the casseroles Hungarians build from ingredients already in the kitchen: boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, smoked sausage and sour cream, with paprika on top and sometimes thick smoked bacon, szalonna, as well. The sausage is usually a Hungarian smoked kolbász such as Csabai or Gyulai, and its fat seasons the potatoes as the dish bakes. The potatoes are boiled in their skins first, then peeled and sliced, and the layers go into a buttered dish in a set order: potatoes, eggs, sausage and spoonfuls of sour cream, repeated until the dish is full and finished with potatoes and a generous layer of sour cream. It bakes covered until bubbling, then uncovered until the top turns golden. Made from affordable ingredients that keep well through the cold months, it is a staple of Hungarian family lunches, especially on weekends, and it travels: the version Mike Bennie shared on SBS in Australia was cooked by his Oma, then by his mother. It is a main course in its own right. Boil the potatoes and eggs a day ahead and the rest is about 20 minutes of assembly before the dish goes into the oven.