Just another typical day in Glasgow… it was a cold and wet Sunday afternoon, and I wanted to whip up something warm and hearty to welcome the boys home from a hard day at work (seriously, the only 2 people I know working on a Sunday!).

Hungarian Goulash is a very thick soup, or even a stew. Goulashes can be made with different meats, but I chose to make mine with chunks of beef because it was already on hand. It is considered to be the national dish of Hungary, and it’s best to keep it very simple. Simple as in just onions and paprika, but garlic and bay leaves provide another dimension of flavour. Whichever way you prepare it, the golden rule for all goulashes is to first cook the onions in the fat (butter) until transparent, then adding the paprika to the onion-fat mixture to enhance the flavour of the paprika prior to adding the meat. The gorgeous warm red colour is all thanks to the paprika, not tomatoes. In fact, some Hungarian chefs find it blasphemous to add tomatoes to goulash, as it’s primarily a paprika dish. To add a little something extra to nibble on while enjoying this beautiful goulash, I make petite egg dumplings, traditionally called “csipetke”. Serve it up piping hot, with some bread, and you’re sure to have big smiles around the dining table!

Serves 4-6, depending on serving size
Active prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 90 minutes

Ingredients

• 500g diced beef
• 1 tsp ground sea salt
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 4 cups hot water (I boiled it up in the kettle)
• 4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
• Ground sea salt
• Ground black pepper
• 1 medium egg
• 6 tbsp flour
• Pinch of ground sea salt

Approach

1. Season beef with sea salt and place aside
2. In a large stock pot on low-medium heat, melt the butter, and cook the onions until transparent
3. Add the smoked paprika, bay leaves, garlic powder and seasoned beef; combine thoroughly and cover; reduce heat to low
4. Simmer for 60 minutes on low heat; the beef will cook in its own juices and soak in the flavour of the butter, paprika, garlic and onions
5. After 60 minutes, uncover and add water and cubed potatoes; cover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes on low-medium heat
6. While the goulash is simmering, prepare the egg dumpling batter
7. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and add the flour and salt, and set aside
8. 5 minutes before the goulash is ready, drop teaspoons of the egg batter into the stock pot; this should yield several small dumplings
9. After using all the batter, cover the pot and let the dumplings cook for 5 minutes; the dumplings should rise to the top when they’re ready
10. Once the potatoes are tender and dumplings are floating at the top, season with sea salt and pepper to taste
11. Ladle into soup bowls, serve with your choice of bread and enjoy!