My grandmother’s side of the family is Hungarian so I wanted to try a dish that was part of my heritage. I had a little trouble with the nokedli, which came out like globs of pasta, but otherwise it was a good dish. I’m not a fan of cooking the chicken with the bone on when you have this much sauce because it makes it messier to eat, but once picked off hubby ate it right up with some rice rather then the nokedli.
Chicken Paprikas
(Adapted from Agnes Rethy)
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
8 skinless bone-in chicken thighs
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 small onions, coarsely chopped
3 Hungarian wax, Italian frying, or Cubanello peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
8 whole peeled canned tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup sour cream, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Nokedli, for serving (See recipe below)
Cucumber Salad, for serving
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Generously season chicken thighs with salt and pepper; add chicken to Dutch oven and cook, turning once, until deep golden brown, about 8 minutes per side. Remove chicken from Dutch oven and set aside.
Add remaining tablespoon olive oil to Dutch oven, if necessary.
Add onions and season with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add peppers and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Return chicken to Dutch oven and sprinkle chicken and vegetables with paprika.
Add tomatoes and 3/4 cup water; bring to a boil.
Cover and let simmer until chicken is very tender, about 40 minutes.
Remove Dutch oven from heat; remove chicken from Dutch oven and keep warm.
Using an immersion blender, blend vegetables and cooking liquid until smooth. I read it wrong and blended it after adding the sour cream and parsley.)
Whisk in sour cream and season with salt and pepper.
Return chicken to Dutch oven and keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with parsley and additional sour cream, and serve with nokedli and cucumber salad.
Nokedli
(Adapted from Anges Rethy)
4 cups all-purpose flour
Coarse salt
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
In a large bowl, whisk together flour and 2 teaspoons salt.
Make a well in the center; crack eggs into center well.
Using a fork, beat eggs; gradually add flour to eggs until fully combined and a dry, shaggy dough forms.
Add 3/4 cup water and stir with a wooden spoon until a rough, very sticky dough forms. If dough seems too dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons additional water as necessary.
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil; add olive oil. Working with about 1/2 cup dough at a time, press dough through a spaetzle maker or a large-holed colander, set about 3 inches from water, into boiling water. (I tried a strainer and a grater, and the grater seemed to work a little better.)
Cook until nokedli float to top, about 2 minutes.
Transfer cooked nokedli to a warm serving bowl. Toss with butter and season with salt. Serve.
I'm going to admit I'm too lazy to make pasta.