Kasha Varnishkes
With spring right around the corner, we’re bidding adieu to the cooler months we’re leaving behind with one more pantry-centric recipe! A little while ago I was able to get my hands on a family recipe for Kasha Varnishkes, a soul warming Jewish-American Ashkenazi dish. Modern Ashkenazi Jews, along with most of my family, are of eastern-european descent, and when they came to America, they brought with them traditional dishes like this which leaned on mainstay crops of the region, like buckwheat. The dish is warm, hearty, deeply rich, and relies solely on pantry-stable ingredients. Though the recipe does require a few pots and pans, it comes together quickly, can satisfy a crowd, and is vegan-optional! Check out the recipe below.
Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup of buckwheat
1/2 lb of bowtie pasta: preferably egg noodles
4oz cremini mushrooms: or roughly 1 big handful
1 medium onion or 3/4 large onion
2 tbsp butter: vegan butter can be used as well
3 tbsp neutral oil: like avocado or canola oil
1 3/4 cups of stock (vegetable/chicken/beef) or 2 tbsp bullion
Preparation
Begin heating water in a medium pot for the pasta. While this is heating, proceed to the next steps, and add in your pasta and cook until al dente once the water is boiling.
Scramble the egg in a medium bowl, pour the dry buckwheat into the bowl with the egg, and stir until totally combined.
Chop the onion and mushrooms into roughly 1/2” cubes. Add 2 tbsp of your neutral oil to a medium pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and mushrooms and begin sauteing. Remove from the heat once they have both browned and softened significantly.
If you have stock, add it to a small pot and place it on low heat. If you don't, add 1 ¾ cups of water to a small pot on medium heat, and, once it's warm, add 2 tbsp of bouillon and 1 tsp of butter, and stir to dissolve. Once everything is dissolved, drop to low heat just to keep it warm.
Add your egg-hydrated buckwheat to a medium pot on medium heat with a tsp of neutral oil. Once the buckwheat starts to sizzle and become fragrant, pour in the stock and stir well. Place a lid on the pot, reduce the heat to medium-low, and stir every 3-4 minutes until the buckwheat is fully cooked/hydrated.
Don’t forget about the pasta and mushrooms and onions!
Once the buckwheat is done cooking, stir in your mushrooms and onions, and then your cooked & drained bowties.
Enjoy! Add finely chopped parsley or other herbs and spices if you’re feeling fancy!
Best Practices
As always:
This recipe relies heavily on packaged goods. That said, not all packaging is made equal! Make sure to opt for food packaged in recyclable containers, or, better yet, not packaged at all. Cans are recyclable in most areas of the US and the buckwheat and pasta can often be found in bulk sections of grocery stores.
Try to bring your own reusable bags when you go shopping for these ingredients, and choose grocery store chains that are engaged in their community.
These ingredients have been chosen with several things in mind:
We are posting this recipe at the end of winter because nearly all of these ingredients are available year-round or commonly in a shelf-stable form. As always, we encourage you to shop as locally and seasonally as possible, so that means that if fresh herbs aren't in season in your area you might opt for the dried version or a different garnish. Shelf stable ingredients also take longer to go bad and can be a way to reduce food waste.
This recipe is vegan-optional and packs a lot of flavor in a delicious dish. Opting for plant-based foods whenever possible reduces your carbon footprint significantly. Even if you are not vegan full-time, going plant-based for as many meals as possible can have a large impact.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Let us know! If you really loved it, share it on social media and tag us (@groundedgrub), or, better yet, share it with your friends and family!