Turkish Manti

• servings: 6
• active time: 2.5 hours
• total time: 3.5 hours

Ingredients

Dough

3 cups flour

2 large eggs

½ cup warm water

½ tsp salt

Filling

¾ ground lamb / beef

1 small onion, grated or finely chopped

4 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped (half if using dried)

1 tsp salt

Yogurt Sauce

⅔ cup greek yogurt (whole milk is best)

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp salt

Caramelized Tomato Paste Sauce

6 oz can tomato paste

4 tbsp olive oil

1 cup water

1 tbsp aleppo pepper

Brown Butter Sauce

3 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

Sumac, mint, and more aleppo pepper for garnish

Directions

First, we’ll make the dough. Add the flour and salt into a pile on a work surface and make a well in the center of the flour (same as making fresh pasta). Crack the eggs into it and mix them together in the center with a fork. Gradually add flour in from the sides until it starts to come together. While there is some liquid still left, add the water and continue gradually mixing in flour until everything comes together.

Once the dough is too difficult to work with a fork, start combining everything by hand. Knead for about 8-10 minutes, or until you get a firm, smooth dough. You may need to add a little bit more water or flour depending on the humidity of your kitchen. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, combine all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and set aside.

Combine everything for the yogurt sauce and set aside in the fridge (bring to room temperature just before serving).

Preheat the oven to 325 F (or 15 minutes before you expect to be done filling the manti, took me a while the first time), and start filling the manti. Cut the dough into fourths. Take one piece of the dough (covering the rest with a damp towel in the meantime), and roll it out into a thin sheet on a lightly floured surface, until it’s about 1/16 inch thick.

Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the flattened dough into roughly 1½ inch squares (don’t worry about odd shapes). Add a small ball of meat, about the size of a chickpea, into the center of each square. To close, pull the four corners up around the meat, two at a time, and press together firmly to close. You can dip your fingers in water as needed to help things stick. Watching a quick video is definitely best to learn how to do this. For the scrap pieces that are uneven, close them however you can. Any shape works as long as the filling is enclosed in sealed dough.

Repeat the process for all other squares and the other 3 pieces of dough. As you’re working, place the formed manti onto parchment lined baking sheets, and cover with damp towels when you’re working on something else. Once you’ve made all the manti you can, bake them at 325 F for 15-20 minutes, or until the dough is dried out and just starting to brown at the edges.

Remove from the oven and allow the manti to cool to room temperature before continuing. Store them in the fridge for using in the next 2 days, or else store them in the freezer for future use.

When you’re ready to start the final cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. While that’s getting up to temperature, we’ll make the tomato sauce by combining the tomato paste and olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly and continue to cook for about 7 minutes, or until the oil is incorporated and the paste is a deep rich color. Add the aleppo pepper and cook for 30 seconds longer, then add the water and whisk to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.

Add the manti to the boiling water and boil for 10-12 minutes, or until tender. During that cooking time, we’ll make the butter sauce. Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat with a pinch of salt. Allow it to melt, stirring infrequently, until it just starts to brown and you can see brown specks in the butter. Remove from the heat and add the olive oil, then set aside.

Strain out the cooked manti, then return them to their cooking pot. Pour the butter sauce over them and stir lightly to coat everything evenly.

Serve butter manti with the tomato and yogurt sauces, allowing your guests to choose how much of each they want. Garnish with sumac, mint, and aleppo pepper as desired!

Notes

The term manti refers to a type of dumpling found in Turkish, Asian, Caucasus, and Balkan cuisine. The size and shape varies from region-to-region, but typically contains a spice meat mixture wrapped in thin dough. The Turkish variant of these has a lamb and onion filling, accompanied with butter, garlic yogurt, and caramelized tomato paste sauces. The three sauces and the filling combine for an addicting taste. Like all wrapped dough recipes, the manti take some time to roll out the dough and fill, so get as many people to help you as possible and make a big batch for everyone to take some extra home.