Fresh Pasta:

• 2.5 cups regular flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoon salt

Meat Filling:

• 1/2 lb ground sirloin
• 1 medium onion
• 1/4 bunch parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

www.aturkishcookinamerica.com

Manti is a much cherished dish in Turkey. Simply put, it is fresh pasta topped with garlic yogurt. As such, it shares the same concept as the Italian ravioli. The difference is, this is a classic dish and you just do not experiment with the ingredients of the filling or the topping in the hope of replicating the same taste from your childhood.

You can find different manti varieties in different regions of Turkey even though they all share more or less the same ingredients. The version we have here is the one that is most commonly made in home kitchens. It is

Yogurt Topping:

Measure 1/2 cup yogurt into a small mixing bowl, add pressed garlic and salt, mix well.

Meat Filling:

Finely chop the onion, set aside.

Finely chop the parsley, set aside.

Combine the ground meat, onion, parsley, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl, mix well.

Fresh Pasta:

Make fresh pasta sheets out of 2.5 cup regular flour, 1 egg, 1/2 cup water and salt. If you are using a pasta machine such as the one shown below with 7 settings, seventh being the thinnest, use the 6th setting.

Cut the sheets into 1.5" x 1.5" squares and put a little meat filling on each square as shown below.

Close the shells as shown below.

Sprinkle flour on a tray so that the manti shells do not stick to the tray.

Boil the manti shells until the pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes. Turks cook their pasta a little softer than al dante.

Add the butter in a sauce pan. Add paprika, remove from heat.

Put the manti into the serving plate (you can add a little of the juice), cover the pieces liberally with the yogurt mixture, garnish with butter/paprika sauce and serve.