RECIPE
Although tomatoes and mint are commonly associated with summer and spring, they actually reach peak flavor and abundance in early fall. It’s the ideal time to pair these seasonal delights into Turkish Manti; a light yet comforting dish that’s perfect for the begging of the fall season.
Manti are a simple style of dumpling, commonly found (in variance) throughout Eastern Europe. In Turkey, the variance is typically lamb-stuffed and topped with tomato sauce, brown butter sauce and garlic yogurt sauce. Depending on where you are in Turkey (it’s a big place) the recipe varies.
One favorite version came from Alaçatı, a sweet little village located on the south western Çeşme peninsula along the Aegean Sea. It was made with ground beef and showcased fresh mint, liberally strewn throughout the meat as well as the many layers of sauce, tomato, butter and garlic yogurt. Often, you’ll see manti made super small and dried. The manti in Alaçatı tend to be large and bulbaceous and made with fresh soft fresh dumpling dough.
Some might say this version cuts corners, and is therefore less authentic, but these corners are built on skills that save time but don’t compromise quality. It merges the tomato butter sauce into one and inserts mint into every layer. Instead of making a garlic yogurt sauce, this version adds garlic to the tomato butter sauce.
Adding a little sour cream to the dumpling dough recipe is technically a Russian method and not authentically Turkish; it makes the dough way more manageable and I’m a fan of ease. You can just as easily omit the sour cream, in which case you can add olive oil.
For the dough
3 room temperature eggs
2/3 cup room temperature water
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons sour cream or two tablespoon olive oil for a vegan version
For the dumpling filling
1-pound ground beef
½ cup grated white onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint leaves
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
For the sauce
2 tablespoons butter, plus an extra tablespoon reserved
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 large big juicy red tomatoes, preferably heirlooms, chopped small (16 oz. canned chopped tomatoes totally acceptable)
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
For serving
1 cup thick Greek yogurt
¼ cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Maldon Salt
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream or olive oil, water and salt until well mixed. Slowly stir in the flour, ½ cup at a time, until all the flour is incorporated and the dough begins to come together. Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and gently knead it with your fingertips, turning the dough and literally dropping it onto the floured surface, a technique often used with more delicate doughs.
After gently kneading for about 3–5 minutes, the dough should be smooth and elastic on the outside, but still slightly sticky on the inside, which you can determine by poking the dough with your fingertip. Cover the dough in plastic (try the compostable Ziploc-style bags) and allow it to rest for about 30–45 minutes. You may also refrigerate the dough at this point, for later use.
For the filling
Mix together all of the filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate about 20-30 minutes so the mixture is very cold when assembling the dumplings.
For the sauce
Heat the 2 tablespoons of butter and oil on medium heat, in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and sauté about 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir, season with salt and Aleppo pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Allow the tomatoes to simmer for about 30 minutes, until they melt and break apart. Turn off the burner, stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter and fresh mint, cover and let stand while the dumplings are assembled and cooked.
To assemble & cook the dumplings
Prepare a big pot of salted boiling water. Divide the dumpling dough into 3 pieces, and keep the portions you are not rolling out covered with a kitchen towel. On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of the dough as thin as you can (about a ¼ inch is fine). Cut the rolled dough into 2-inch square with a knife, pasta cutter or pastry wheel.
Place about 2 teaspoons of the cold filling into the center of each square. Seal up the dumplings by gathering each corner into the center over the meat and sealing the edges- making a X shape in terms of the creases or seals. Make sure all the creases are completely sealed. It takes a good deal of thumb and finger work to get the hang of this particular seal, but with just a few practices you will master it. If you can’t master the X shape seal, seal it however you can and move on to cooking and eating! Place the sealed manti on a lightly floured or lined with parchment paper tray, making sure they don’t touch one another.
Place the dumplings one at a time in the boiling water using a slotted spoon. Make sure you have enough room in the pot so they can all move around freely. They will need to cook for about 4-6 minutes in total. Gently move them around using a spoon a few times while they cook. The dumplings will float to the top when they are just about finished. I like to make sure they are all at the top for at least a minute and a half before removing with a slotted spoon. While the dumplings cook, heat up your tomato sauce.
For serving
Place several cooked dumplings down on a plate style bowl (or bowl style plate). Spoon the tomato butter sauce over the dumplings and dollop with yogurt. Garnish with a little extra fresh mint and finishing or flake salt.
Try substituting ground pork or lamb in lieu of the beef.
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