dishes and desserts from Turkey and Italia

table of contents

first course "Mercimek corbasi"....................1
main course "Manti".......................................3
dessert "Baklava"............................................6

first course "pasta alla carbonara"...............8
main course "cotoletta alla milanese"........10
dessert "tiramisù"..........................................12

first course "Mercimek çorbası"

Ingredients
150g red lentils
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large potato, scrubbed and rougly chopped
1 large tomato, roughly chopped (or 1400g tin)
1 dessert spoonful chilli flakes
Pinch of cumin
Salt and pepper to season

For The Garnish
1 lemon wedge
½ tsp chilli flakes
½ tsp dried mint

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note: next to the soup, it is common to eat Pide, salad and or Turşu

ramazan pidesi is bread

Turşu is vegetables pickled in brine

Instructions
1. In a large pan, heat a glug of olive oil.
2. Add the potato and onion and keep stirring for a few minutes over a low to medium heat.
3. Now add your lentils and mix together.
4. Add your chopped tomato, chilli and cumin and stir.
6. Now add two mugfuls of hot water or stock, salt and pepper and stir everything together.
7. Bring to the boil and then cover and simmer for around 20 minutes.
8. Remove the lid and give your red lentil soup a stir.
9. Add more water or stock if necessary.
10. Simmer for a further 15-20 minutes.
11. Remove from the heat and mash or blend your red lentil soup.
12. Ladle your soup into serving bowls and sprinkle your chilli flakes and dried mint over the top (optional)
13. Squeeze the juice of the lemon wedge into your soup.

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Ingredients

Dough:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt
¼ cup lukewarm water
Filling:
200g ground beef
1 onion, chopped finely
¼ bunch parsley, chopped finely
½ tsp salt
A pinch of black pepper
1 tsp pepper paste

Yogurt Sauce:
1 cup yogurt
2 cloves garlic, mashed
A pinch of salt

Sauce
1 spoon butter
1 spoon Turkish tomato paste
1g pul biber
1g kara biber
20ml water

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main course "Mantı"

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Instructions
1. Mix flour, egg and salt.
2. Add water little by little and mix with your hand.
3. Knead it well until you have a bit tough dough. You can add extra water or flour to have this result.
4. Make a ball from it and roll it out not so thin, about 2mm thick.
5. Cut it first into strips, then into small squares.
6. Place a little filling on each square.
7. Close them up patiently.
8. Heat 4 cups of water in a pot and add dumplings when it boils.
9. Boil them until soften for about 10 minutes.
10. Transfer them into plates with a slotted spoon.
11. Mix all ingredients for yogurt sauce.
12. Melt butter. Add in dry ingredients, mix and add paste. Stir everything and lastly add water. Should be finished after 10-20 seconds
13. Pour some yogurt on dumplings and drizzle sauce over it before serving.

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how to make the dumplings

cut the dough into small squares and add the filling

fold the corners on one side, then on the other

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dessert "Baklava"

Ingredients

Baklava:
1 package phyllo dough (mine has 25 sheets), thawed
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted (at room temperature not hot)
2 cups walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons ground pistachio, for garnish

Syrup:
2 and ½ cup sugar
2 cups water
1 slice of lemon

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Ingredients

1. Thaw the phyllo dough overnight in the fridge and then let it sit on the counter for about half an hour. Put it aside.
2. Prepare the syrup. Put the syrup ingredients in a pot. Heat until it boils. 3. Let it simmer over medium low heat for 15 minutes and cool completely.
4. Trim the phyllo sheets to fit your baking pan. I used 25 sheets in this recipe and trim them all together. Cover them with a damp cloth so that the sheets won’t dry out when you are working. Each time you place a phyllo sheet into the pan, make sure you cover the rest. They can easily dry out otherwise.
5. Preheat the oven to 200c.
6. Butter the bottom and the sides of a 9×13 baking pan.
7. Place one phyllo sheet in the pan and brush it with melted butter. Place the second phyllo over it and butter it too. Repeat this until you have 5 sheets in total.
8. Spread ½ cup walnuts over the 5th sheet evenly.
9. Repeat this until you have 4 layers of walnuts. Top the 4th layer of walnuts with 5 phyllo sheets, buttering each. Make sure you butter the top as well.
10. Using a sharp knife, cut the raw baklava into vertical strips and then cut diagonally. Make sure you cut it all the way to the bottom of the pan. Bake it at 200c for 30 minutes or until tops are golden.
11. Remove it from oven and using a ladle, pour cooled syrup over hot baklava. Let it sit uncovered for 4-5 hours so that the syrup spreads well into the layers.
12. Garnish with ground pistachio and serve.

NOTES

- The butter should be melted and at room temperature, not hot. And don’t try to cover the surface of each phyllo sheet with butter. Just gently brushing it with butter will be enough.
- You can adjust the amount of the syrup you pour over baklava. You don’t have to use all the syrup for a less sweet baklava.
- Don’t forget to cover the phyllo sheets with damp cloth when buttering one phyllo sheet in the pan. Otherwise, they dry out and tear.

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First course
“Pasta alla carbonara “

Ingredients:

100g pig cheek (guanciale)
50g pecorino cheese
50g parmesan
3 large eggs
350g spaghetti
2 cloves of garlic
50g of butter
sea salt and black pepper

buonissimo.it

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Instructions:

1.Boil a large pot of water.
2.Finely chop the 100 g of pig cheek and grate 50 g of pecorino and 50 g of Parmesan cheese and mix them.
3.Beat the 3 large eggs in a bowl and season with some freshly grated black pepper. Put everything aside.
4.Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the boiling water, add 350g of spaghetti and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or al dente (just cooked).
5.Crush 2 cloves of garlic.
6.While the spaghetti is cooking, sauté pig cheek with the garlic. Pour 50 g of butter into a pan and as soon as the butter has melted, pour the pig cheek and garlic.

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7.Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the bacon is golden and crisp. Remove the garlic.
8.Keep the heat low under the bacon.When the pasta is ready, drain it and put it in the pan with the bacon.
9.Mix most of the cheese with the eggs, saving a small handful for sprinkling later.
10.Remove the pan of spaghetti and bacon from the heat. Now quickly pour in the eggs and cheese.
11.Use a fork to wrap the pasta on the plate. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of remaining cheese and a grating of black

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