Gombapaprikás, Hungarian Mushroom Paprikash
Paprikás csirke, chicken paprikash, is built on three things: sweet paprika bloomed off the heat so it never scorches, a long braise that turns chicken tender, and a swirl of tejfől, Hungarian sour cream, stirred in at the end. This version keeps the first and last and rebuilds the middle. Cremini mushrooms, dry-seared hard until deeply browned, take over the role the chicken's seared skin plays, and a measure of cannellini beans adds the protein and heft a boneless dish would otherwise lack. The traditional rántás, a fat-and-flour roux, becomes a spoonful of potato starch stirred into cold water, and the tejfől becomes plain plant yogurt, both stirred in off the boil so neither breaks. Whole wheat pasta stands in for the egg-based nokedli dumplings the dish is usually served over. What survives unchanged is the technique that actually matters: paprika goes into a pan that has already left the heat, every time.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb Cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 whole Yellow onions, diced
- 1 whole Bell peppers, diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp Sweet paprika
- 1 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups Cannellini beans, cooked, drained
- 1 tbsp Potato starch
- 1/2 cup Plain plant yogurt
- 1 tbsp White wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Dried marjoram
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 8 oz Whole wheat short pasta
- 2 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Method
- Dry-sear the mushrooms in a wide, hot pan in batches, without crowding, until deeply browned on both sides, 8 to 10 minutes. A crowded pan steams mushrooms instead of browning them, and that hard sear is the closest thing here to the seared chicken skin the dish is built around. Set the mushrooms aside.
- In the same pan, sweat the onion and bell pepper in a few tablespoons of water until soft, about 8 minutes, adding water whenever the pan goes dry. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Pull the pan off the heat before stirring in the paprika and tomato paste. Paprika scorches and turns bitter within seconds over direct heat, so it always goes in off the flame; this one move is what keeps a paprikás sweet and red instead of dull and sharp.
- Return the pan to the heat, add 1.5 cups (355 ml) water and the cannellini beans, and simmer 10 minutes so the beans take up the paprika. Stir the potato starch into 2 tbsp cold water, pour it in, and simmer 2 more minutes until the sauce turns glossy and coats a spoon. Boil potato starch hard and it breaks and thins back out, so keep it to a bare simmer once it goes in. Fold the mushrooms back in to warm through.
- Off the heat, stir in the plant yogurt, vinegar, marjoram, and black pepper. Adding the yogurt off the boil keeps it from splitting, and the vinegar gives it the tang that a spoonful of tejfől, Hungarian sour cream, would otherwise carry.
- Boil the pasta until just tender, drain, and serve the paprikás spooned over it, finished with the parsley.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 370 calories, 19 g protein, 10 g fiber, 60 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
