Dad’s Hungarian Stew
My husband was out of town for work for about three weeks total last month, so in turn he’s been making lots of dinners since coming home. This Hungarian Stew is one of our recipes for life. It’s one of my favorite meals he makes for us. It’s spicy in the most flavorful way, and so filling thanks to the Impossible meat. He and I have almost opposite cooking styles, and I think this recipe reflects his masculine cooking. Meaty, spicy, and slightly salty (but salt to your preference!) in the most delicious way.
As soon as there’s a slight chill in the air, this is on the table for dinner! If you’re sensitive to spice, add little bits of paprika at a time. See very end of recipe for my husband’s tips, and how to make this toddler friendly!
Dad’s note on Paprika Selection: Paprika is not a “one size fits all” spice. There is a ton of variation in both flavor profile and heat, so its important to find the one that is right for you. Finding your perfect paprika can be a process of trial and error. Some things that we’ve learned along the way:
Smoked Paprika doesn’t work with this dish.
Hot Paprikas can range from very mild to extremely spicy. For instance, the first time we made this dish, we used a Hungarian Hot Paprika that was unbearably spicy. Still delicious, but literally sweating with every bite. This time around, we used a Turkish Hot Paprika that my husband got in a spice market in Istanbul— this one was very mild.
Some Paprikas have a very dynamic flavor profile and some don’t taste very peppery at all.
The rich red color of this stew comes from the paprika, not from tomato. If you find a paprika that you love, but its not super “red”: roll with it. It’s all about the taste :)
Dad’s Hungarian Stew
6 medium yellow onions, julienned
1 whole bulb of garlic, peeled, crushed, and chopped
1 pound yellow baby potatoes, halved
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 pound “freak meat” aka Impossible ground beef
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup water + 3 tsp vegetable Better Than Bouillon
¼ cup olive oil
~½ cup paprika (see the notes above on paprika selection)
Instructions:
Prep the onions, garlic, and mushrooms.
Pot 1: Boil the halved potatoes until tender.
Pot 2: Brown Impossible Meat with light salt and pepper seasoning.
Pot 3: Sweat onions until they’re tender, but not browned. Make a crater in the center and add all the sliced mushrooms. Sweat mushrooms until there’s liquid from the mushrooms covering all the onion and mushroom. It should be soupy. Make another crater and add an 1/8th cup of olive oil, and your chopped garlic on top of that. Let that cook for a few minutes, mix it all together, and let it stew for another five minutes. Make another crater and add the bouillon + water mix. Next we add the browned Impossible meat, tomato puree, and paprika. Taste and season according to salt + pepper preference. Add potatoes and 2 cups of water. Let stew on low for 1 hr so it can reduce, stirring occasionally to prevent burning bottom. Optional: serve with papardelle, egg noodle (walmart brand is vegan), rice. Top with something creamy. I top with my homemade ricotta. (if you live in NYC, inquire within to order a jar!)
Chef’s Note: This recipe is always in development, changes every time, if the tomatoes are too tomato-ey you might want to add less. It SHOULDN’T taste like a pasta sauce. If the tomatoes are not acidic enough, you may want to add a little bit of lemon juice at the very end. Depending on your preference, you may want to add a bit of sugar in the form of cane sugar.
To make toddler friendly, scoop out a bit of the onion and mushroom mixture before adding in the hot paprika.
Let me know if you make this! Send pics to @claracakes on instagram