Sometimes your taste buds need a lift, and this dish does the trick. The flavors are very unique and it provides something a little different for the dinner table. This is a great entree to make on a Saturday or Sunday when you have some time to let it simmer, or the night before on a weeknight to reheat the next day. The dish is spicy, but you can cut back on the hot paprika and substitute with more of the sweet paprika if you don’t/can’t eat spicy food. I could not find spaetzle, so I used the kluski (short, Pennsylvania Dutch noodles and sauteed them the same way). If you would like the original spaetzle noodle recipe to make at home, let me know. You will need a hotel pan with holes in it or a spaetzle press to make it.
Ingredients
2 TB olive oil
4 large, sweet onions
1 tsp tomato paste
1 TB caraway seeds
1 TB hot Hungarian paprika (found in large tins at Publix and other stores)
2 TB sweet Hungarian paprika (also in tins)
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp sea salt
1 carton (preferably organic) beef stock
1 package spaetzle or Pennsylvania Dutch Kluski noodles (found in most grocery stores)
2/3 stick butter
2 1/2 to 3 lbs chuck roast
Method
Using a food processor with the slicing attachment or slicing by hand, cut the onions into thin slices. Heat a large pot to medium high heat and add the olive oil. Add the onions and stir. It will look like a lot of onions, but they will shrink. When you start to hear them sizzle, cover the pot and turn the heat down to medium low. Simmer the onions until they start to caramelize. This will take about 45 minutes to an hour. (It’s worth it.) Add tomato paste to the bottom of the pot, so it can caramelize as well. Add caraway, paprikas, garlic and salt. Stir to combine. Cut the roast into 2 inch cubes, removing any extra fat. Add to the pot. Add the stock and bring up to a simmer. Cover and simmer (not a strong boil, just bubbling) for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover pot and simmer for another 1 1/2 hours until the sauce is thick and rich. Boil noodles or spaetzle according to package directions until almost cooked. (Drain about 2 minutes from being done.) In a frying pan melt butter over medium high heat and add noodles. Saute until they start to brown around the edges a little. Serve noodles or spaetzle on a plate and ladle over the goulash.
