Meatless Monday: Easy Mushroom Paprikash
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We try to eat meatless 1-2 times per week but admittedly, I have a really hard time getting past pasta on those nights. Not only because it seems that a lot of the vegetarian recipes I come across are pasta-based, but also because I tend to already have a pasta dish on the menu once per week, and don’t really like eating pasta more than that (or, more accurately, I really would like that, but can’t really justify it).
We really enjoy chicken paprikash and, being the big mushroom fans that we are, I knew we’d like a mushroom version as well. And yes, paprikash is often served over egg noodles, but we had this over rice instead—although I didn’t have time to make brown rice this particular day so considering we had white rice, I probably should have stuck with pasta anyway. 🙂 At any rate, what I like about mushroom-based meatless dishes is that they still have a hearty, meaty quality to them. I ended up increasing the amount of mushrooms in this recipe. I used cremini, but I think sliced portobellos would also work really well. This dish is easily made ahead—and even tastes a little better that way—but it’s also incredibly quick, so it can easily be made on a weeknight.
Mushroom Paprikash
Adapted from Vegetarian Times
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. sliced cremini mushrooms
1 medium bell pepper, diced*
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 (15 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup sour cream
Heat the oil in skillet or small Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, and cook about 7 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and onion; reduce heat to medium and add a pinch of salt. Sauté 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
Stir in the wine, and cook 2 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the flour and paprika; stir 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and broth and cook, stirring, until sauce has thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made ahead to this point. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat before continuing.)
Stir sour cream into mixture just until warmed through. Re-season if necessary.
*I had frozen tri-colored bell pepper strips in my freezer, so I used about 1 cup of those.