Easy comfort dinner? All you need is 1 pan, lots of paprika

Chicken paprikash is the kind of dish that reveals itself immediately and inarguably as comfort food, even if you've never eaten it before in your life.

It's a classic Hungarian dish which features chicken, onions, broth, tomatoes (sometimes, not always) and of course copious amounts of paprika. I have been playing around with my tin of smoked paprika for quite a while now, and while I love the flavor, it can come on strong. So here I relied primarily on the typical sweet Hungarian paprika, then added a little bit of smoked to give it another level of flavor. You also could add a bit of hot paprika to give the dish a different kind of kick.

If you are the kind of person to make your own dumplings or noodles, this is a great moment to whip out that skill set. For the rest of us, and for a weeknight dinner, a bag of egg noodles fits the bill perfectly. You don't want to heat the sour cream in the sauce over the stove, or it might curdle. Just stir it into the pot at the very end and it will add a tangy-creamy note to the warm sauce.

• Katie Workman has written two cookbooks focused on easy, family-friendly cooking, "Dinner Solved!" and "The Mom 100 Cookbook." She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman/