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Prep time
15 minutes -
Cook time
20 minutes -
Serves
2
Author Notes
Stews, like other dark foods, are not particularly photogenic, but taste is what counts. The key to good stew flavor was formerly Maggi, a Swiss seasoning sauce that contains monosodium glutamate (MSG), lovage, and yeast. It was so popular in Poland that it became a staple of the Polish dinner table. Eventually, Maggi gave way to soy sauce, but I missed the flavor of lovage, so I started panfrying kopytka, leek, and mushrooms with soy sauce and adding fresh lovage. I like to serve this dish with raw egg yolks for an extra-thick sauce, but that’s totally optional. —Food52
Test Kitchen Notes
Recipe from Polish’d: Modern Vegetarian Cooking from Global Poland © Michał Korkosz, 2023. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available everywhere books are sold.
Note: if you can’t sort lovage, celery leaves will do! —Emily Ziemski
- Test Kitchen-Approved
Ingredients
1/4 cup
(60 ml) olive oil, plus more for frying
1/2 pound
(220 grams) mushrooms (any variety, such as button, oyster, porcini, or milk cap), halved if large
1/4 teaspoon
fine sea salt, plus more to taste-
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1
large leek, white part only, thinly sliced
2
garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon
Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons
soy sauce
2 tablespoons
freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon
powdered sugar
1 pound
(450 grams) pre-made kopytka or gnocchi
2
egg yolks (optional, but recommended), for serving
3 tablespoons
fresh lovage leaves, for serving
Directions
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Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Panfry the mushrooms, stirring a few times, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Using a slotted spoon,
remove the mushrooms from the skillet. Set aside in a medium bowl. - In the same skillet, place the leek, garlic, and salt. Panfry, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the leek and garlic from the skillet and add to the bowl with the mushrooms.
- To make the sauce, combine the mustard, soy sauce, lemon juice, powdered sugar, and ¼ cup (60 ml) water in a medium bowl.
- Add more oil to the skillet, if needed. Add the kopytka and panfry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and leek mixture to the skillet and stir in the sauce. Cook until warmed through and remove from the heat.
- To serve, divide among bowls. Top each with an egg yolk, if using, and the lovage. Season with pepper.