This is fast food, really, but it tastes slow. We all need a few thirty-minute recipes like this in our respective repertoires to get ourselves through the daily “what to make for dinner” dilemma. It probably is a travesty of some sort to call this a real paprikash, which usually calls for slow braising of bone-in chicken pieces. Still it is flavorful, and something you can do with boneless, skinless chicken breasts which too often come off hard and dry.
Somewhere a few months ago, I was reading about paprika, and the foodwriter suggested acquiring some smoked paprika. So, the next time I went to the Belfast Coop I spotted it among the herbs and spices and thought, why not. Every once in a while I add to my supply something I have never used, in what is occasionally a feeble attempt to jolt myself out of a rut.
I have not taken paprika very seriously. I suspect the garden variety paprika most of us acquire tastes good enough, and fulfills the need for color on potato salad, or deviled eggs, or otherwise beige dishes. Paprika deserves more credit than that. This smoked stuff is really terrific and combined with chicken, tomatoes, and sour cream it is stellar.
The recipe could be extended to use pork or turkey. If there is a vegetarian in your midst, I bet you could make a tasty version with cauliflower or tofu. If you want, try using Greek-style yogurt in place of the sour cream.
- Noodles
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons paprika, smoked or not
- 2 cups of whole canned tomatoes
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 halves boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Start the noodles by heating cooking water.
- Put the olive oil in a large sauté pan and begin to cook the onions.
- As soon as the water is hot, cook the noodles according to instructions on the package.
- Add the paprika and the tomatoes to the sautéed onion, cook briefly to heat through, then add the chicken pieces. It will take only 5-10 minutes for the chicken to be cooked through.
- Drain the noodles and butter them lightly to keep them from becoming sticky. Arrange noodles on a platter. Stir the sour cream into the chicken and pour the chicken and sauce over the noodles and serve.
Looking for….A good lemon meringue pie recipe. Not too much cornstarch, please, and from scratch with lemons I squeeze myself. Anyone?