There’s one meal that everybody in my family loves, and it’s not mac and cheese. It’s not even my very own recipe! It’s my finest good friend’s mother’s mushroom paprikash.
I acquired hooked on this meal again in my twenties, after I began making it with my finest good friend, Chrissy, who discovered it from her mother, Monika, who discovered make it as a toddler in Slovakia. “Historically, paprikash is made with rooster,” Monika informed me. “However within the outdated days, behind the Iron Curtain, we didn’t have meat most days, so individuals used what was accessible. In summertime, if it was a pleasant day, all us youngsters would exit into the woods and collect mushrooms. That’s how the mushroom paprikash took place. And it was great!”
It nonetheless is. Which is why I observe Monika’s model to the letter. I nonetheless have her directions saved in a decade-old textual content message, which I can now recite from reminiscence (although I’ve copied it into my Notes app JUST IN CASE). It’s our household’s favourite winter meal, by far, however I’ll simply as simply whip it out in July. Monika’s paprikash has a 100% success fee, even with my preschooler — even when she’s sick and I’ve to beg her to think about a popsicle. She’s going to willingly dehydrate earlier than my eyes, but when she sees me slicing mushrooms, she’ll throw her arms up and shout, “PAPRIKASHHH!” After which her dad is available in and goes, “Paprikash?” After which I nod and all of us chant the phrase “paprikash” as a result of it’s additionally enjoyable to say. The meal places everybody in a great temper — till somebody eats the final portion with out asking, after which we’re all grumpy and a few of us cry. All this to say: do your self a favor and double the recipe.
Monika’s Mushroom Paprikash
serves 3-4
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced or grated
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1-2+ tbsp candy paprika (Monika recommends a Hungarian paprika, like this one)*
16 oz mushrooms (child bella/cremini/brown button), sliced skinny
Salt, to style
1+ cups bitter cream
Egg noodles or spaetzle**, for serving
Add olive oil to a big pan or Dutch oven (sufficient to coat the underside properly), and switch the warmth on medium-low. Add the onion, and sauté simply till it begins to show translucent and golden. Subsequent, add the paprika (see under!) and switch the warmth low. Monika suggests including a tiny splash of water right here, to make sure the paprika doesn’t burn. That is the #1 rule: Don’t let the paprika burn! Hold the warmth low from right here on out, and keep watch over the pan to ensure the paprika doesn’t begin to darken.
Add the mushrooms and shortly stir them into the onion combination so that they’re properly coated, and sauté, stirring often. You may inch the warmth up somewhat as soon as the mushrooms have launched their liquid, however watch out to not let it boil off solely (once more: no burning the paprika!).
As soon as the mushrooms are good and gentle, take the pan off the warmth and provides it a fast style. “I typically add somewhat salt right here, if it wants it, however solely after every part’s cooked,” Monika says. FYI, that is one other key to the recipe. I’ve unintentionally added the salt too early earlier than, and observed that the mushrooms don’t launch as a lot liquid — a serious taste component.
Stir within the bitter cream, including extra as wanted. You need it a bit thicker than a sauce — extra just like the consistency of whole-milk yogurt. Boil up your egg noodles or spaetzle, and serve beneath a great scoop of paprikash. (Be certain to depart some for seconds.)
*As for the way a lot paprika so as to add to the pan, it’s not a precise science. I often begin with a heaping tablespoon — which looks like loads, however then I inevitably add one other (and typically extra). In my expertise, it’s fairly laborious so as to add an excessive amount of. When unsure, Monika says: “You need sufficient to make it crimson.”
**Paprikash is historically served on spaetzle — which I’ve by no means made, although it looks delicious. Monika says it’s high quality to be versatile right here. “Egg noodles or any related brief pasta will do!”
Huge due to Moni for sharing this treasured household recipe with me! Any nice recipes you’ve nabbed from another person’s mother?
P.S. The #1 thing we’d tell new parents about family dinner, and what are five recipes in your arsenal?
