Mushroom Stroganoff

Stroganoff was one of my favorite meals growing up. When we became vegetarians, my mom's recipe was a hard one to transfer over. I tried everything: "meatless" crumbles, "meatless" chunks, and even sliced mushrooms.  But each time, the sauce just wasn't right. So, this time, I abandoned my mom's recipe *gasp* and started fresh. And no offense to my mom, but it was definitely worth it.

Mushroom Stroganoff
based heavily on this recipe from Allrecipes' database
Serves 2

• 1 Tb. butter*
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 6 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 Tb. flour
• 1 Tb. heavy cream
• 1 Tb. vegetarian Parmesan 
• 1 Tb. Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 4 oz egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

*The original recipe called for 3 TB of butter! Why in the world do people need so much butter?! I definitely did not miss the extra butter. 

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring until softened. Turn up the heat to medium-high and add mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are limp and browned. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

In the same skillet, stir in vegetable broth, being sure to stir in any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, and cook until the mixture has reduced by 1/3. Reduce heat to low, and return the mushrooms and onion to the skillet.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir together the sour cream and flour; then blend into the mushroom mixture. Stir in the cream and Parmesan. 

Return the skillet to the burner, and continue cooking over low heat, just until the sauce thickens. Stir in the Italian seasoning, soy sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over cooked egg noodles. I like to garnish with a sprinkling of paprika. No idea why. 

Nutritional Information (for half over 2 oz WW noodles): 495 calories, 18.5g fat (10g sat), 7.8g fiber, 18g protein

I was very happy with the results of this stroganoff! The cream was a last minute addition because it just wasn't as creamy as I wanted at first. I'm sure using low-fat sour cream did that. I also just use white button mushrooms because that's what I had in the fridge. However, I'm dying to try this with a heartier mushroom, like portabella or cremini. I'm sure the flavor would be incredible. Just a warning for those of you who don't salt your food while cooking, this is a must. I try to avoid putting extra salt in until it's necessary...but this is just one of those recipes that needs salt to make it taste...perfect.

I finished my final paper yesterday and now I've just got to hunker down on my math final exam....only 42 problems so it's not that long. But that's means they count for ALOT so I'm a tad stressed about getting the right answers. Well, off to finish that before tonight's cookie baking-cleaning the apartment-vegetable chopping frenzy! :)