White Bean Paprikash with Soy Curls

I couldn’t let Rob be the only one having fun with soy curls. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make, but once Rob showed how easy it was to add to a dish, I kept thinking of new ways to use them. It is all about the play of textures, since any saucy dish will lend well to adding flavour to the soy curls.

While the original recipe called this goulash, I think it is more similar to paprikash. Paprikash and goulash are both Hungarian stews, but I have gathered that goulash usually includes more vegetables (carrots, parsnips, potato, peppers, etc). Of course, my favourite part of paprikash were the dumplings. I have no idea how to spell it, but we called them “nokola”. My google kung-fu has brought me to this recipe for Hungarian nokedli, which looks similar, although they are smaller. My “nokola” are basically oversized spaetzle.

This was a fun, delicious paprikash stew. Smoked paprika with total tomato goodness (canned tomatoes, paste AND sun-dried tomatoes) create a luscious base. I had no red wine, and I thought Marmite would have been a good substitute since I loved it in my Beefy Mushroom and Cranberry Stew. However, with no Marmite here, I devised a fun substitute: miso and nutritional yeast. I figured it was that umami we were after and it worked! A touch of balsamic vinegar added a sweet-sour-acid thing. The soy curls were akin to thicker meat strands, but there were also white beans and thicker slabs of red pepper. This really brought me back to eating paprikash and dumplings as a child.

I found my inspiration for this dish from Mouthwatering Vegan. Lets just say the original recipe seemed a tad too complex. Unnecessarily complex, for my liking. Have I become a cantankerous kitchen curmudgeon? I don’t think so… I kept this as a one burner, one pot dish (along with something to soak the soy curls). Miriam says it is quick and easy to prepare, but I cut out the hour baking time. I am sure sauteeing the red peppers separately would be nice, too, but I streamlined that step, too. I imagine one could even rehydrate the soy curls in the stew, but I am not as familiar with them to know how that would work.

Are you one to make changes to speed up making your meals, too? And do I have any European dumpling experts that know what I am talking about??

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays and to this month’s VegCookBook Club for Mouthwatering Vegan. Next month’s VegCookBook Club is all about Isa Does It. Feel free to share your eats from the cookbook and enter here for your chance to win your own copy of Isa Does It!

White Bean Paprikash with Soy Curls
Adapted from Mouthwatering Vegan (original recipe here)

4 oz dry soy curls, rehydrated in boiling water for 10 minutes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
salt, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 red pepper, sliced longitudinally
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp tomato paste
14 oz can whole tomatoes, with juice, tomatoes chopped
3-4 sun-dried tomatoes halves, chopped
1.5 cups cooked white beans (I used Great Northern beans)
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp miso (I used white)

1. Place dry soy curls in a large bowl and add boiling water. Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pot over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add onion, sprinkle with salt and saute for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and rehydrated soy curls, reduce heat to medium and saute until the soy curls are slightly browned, around 10 minutes. If things become too sticky, deglaze with a bit of water/broth. Sprinkle with paprika and stir to evenly coat the soy curls.

3. Push soy curls to the side and add the red peppers. Saute until softened, around 5 minutes. Stir in coriander, cumin, fennel and bay leaves and cook one minute more. Stir in tomato paste and cook until slightly browned. Add in chopped tomatoes (and juices), sun-dried tomatoes, beans and nutritional yeast. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. In a small bowl, combine balsamic vinegar and miso. Stir into soup once finished. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serves 4.