“Could it be…SATAN?”

I think I just dated myself with that quote. Today’s pieced-together recipe features a vegetarian meat-substitute favourite, seitan (sounds kinda like ‘satan’).

I’ve been a little obsessed with paprika lately, so a Seitan Paprikash sounded yummy. I looked at a few different recipes and cobbled one together that sounded good.

Seitan is kind of a strange ingredient, with about a million ways to make it. I started this one by making a dough with gluten flour, water and some seasoning.  I had to stretch it and let it rise and stretch it and rip it some more in an attempt to give it some kind of texture. Then it was simmered in a flavourful broth, and suddenly I had ‘meat’. I suppose it’s most like a ‘chicken’ because it was lightly flavoured, but it stood in place of pork pretty well in this dish.

This dish was quick and easy to make, and was a nice change from the usual pasta. The creamy sauce went really well with the seitan. Since this dish is lacking in veggies (in that you might actually end up with a forkful that does not contain a vegetable), we also had some asparagus and a bit of avocado salad. Mmmmmmm.

Side note: I can’t wait for asparagus to be in season here. I’m getting SO JEALOUS reading other peoples’ blogs about the fresh local asparagus they’re able to get!!! Grrr!

Recipe after the jump!

Seitan Paprikash

Modified from the Pork Paprikash recipe on the Martha Stewart website, with inspiration from about 10 other recipes :). Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 ounces wide egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces
• 1 lb seitan chopped into nice chunks
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 2 cups canned diced tomatoes in juice (I used just over 1/2 of a 24 oz can)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup Chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Preparation:

1. Cook egg noodles; drain and return to pot. Stir in butter; cover and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine seitan with 1 tablespoon paprika; season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high; cook seitan, tossing occasionally, until lightly browned on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
4. Return skillet to stove; reduce heat to medium. Add remaining tablespoon oil and onion; cook until onion is soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add seitan, remaining tablespoon paprika, cayenne pepper, green pepper, tomatoes with their juice, and vegetable stock; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook, until sauce is slightly thickened, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon, 2 to 4 minutes.
5. Remove skillet from heat, and stir in sour cream; season with salt and pepper. Serve paprikash over noodles, garnished with parsley, if desired.