Kasha with Mushrooms and Onions
Kasha varnishkes is old comfort food from the Eastern European Jewish kitchen, buckwheat and bowtie pasta bound with onions and, traditionally, a good amount of schmaltz. The buckwheat carries it, and the technique that defines kasha is coating the raw groats before toasting so they cook up fluffy and separate rather than gluey. An egg does that job in the original; the liquid from a can of chickpeas, aquafaba, does exactly the same for nothing. From there it is a matter of patience: onions cooked slowly until sweet and dark, mushrooms browned hard until meaty, and a spoonful of tamari to pull it all savory. Whole wheat pasta stands in for the refined bowties, and the starchy pasta water binds the plate together in place of the fat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Buckwheat groats
- 3 tbsp Aquafaba
- 8 oz Whole wheat short pasta
- 3 wholes Yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 12 oz Cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Dried marjoram
- 1 tbsp Low-sodium tamari
- 1/3 cup Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Stir the raw buckwheat groats with the aquafaba until every grain is coated, then toast them in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring, until they are dry, separate, and smell nutty, about 4 minutes. Coating the groats first is the classic kasha trick: it seals each grain so they steam fluffy and distinct instead of clumping into porridge. Aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas, replaces the egg traditionally used for this.
- Add 2 cups (475 ml) water to the toasted groats, bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low until tender and the water is gone, about 12 minutes. Leave the lid on and rest off the heat 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
- While the kasha cooks, sweat the sliced onions in a splash of water in a wide pan over medium heat. Let them cook down 15 to 20 minutes, adding water whenever they stick, until deeply golden and sweet. This long, slow browning is where most of the flavor lives, so do not rush it. The onions replace the richness that fat would add.
- Push the onions aside and add the mushrooms to the open pan. Let them sit undisturbed to release their water and brown before you stir. Crowding or stirring too soon steams them gray; patience makes them meaty and dark. Add the garlic, marjoram, and black pepper for the last minute.
- Boil the pasta until just tender, drain, and reserve a cup of the cooking water. Toss the kasha, pasta, and the mushroom and onion mixture together with the tamari and a splash of pasta water to bind. The starchy water pulls it into one dish instead of dry grain and pasta sitting side by side. Fold in the parsley and finish with more black pepper.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 340 calories, 13 g protein, 9 g fiber, 120 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.
