Manti

Makes About 100: Serves 4 to 5 – I would recommend doubling this recipe as they go very fast!

Each of the dumplings is about the size of your fingertip so if you have great big meat hands like me, you might want to recruit someone with smaller digits to pitch in. Luckily I had my wife to help seal them up. When we told our Turkish friends that we had made our own manti they were amazed as it’s quite time consuming and generally made by the elder generation. It took my wife and I the better part of 3 hours to make all the dumplings the night before our dinner party, but the effort was well worth it. I’m sure we’ll be making these again.

The Dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons cold water

The filling:
8 ounces ground lamb
1 medium yellow onion, grated on the large holes of a box grater (1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon course salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Serving:
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic (diced)
1 glug of olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

1. Make the dough: Sift together flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add egg. Using your hands, gently draw flour mixture into egg. Gradually add the cold water, and continue to work dough with your hands or a spoon until it forms a smooth paste.

2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Kneed until dough is smooth and springs back when pressed, 5 to 8 minutes. Divide dough into 2 balls, cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

3. Make the filling: Gently combine lamb, onion, parsley, salt and pepper. (Filling can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.)

4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 portion of dough into a 16-by-10 inch oblong about 1/16 inch think. Using a ruler, cut dough into 1 1/4 inch squares with a pizza wheel or a paring knife. Keep remaining dough covered with a damp kitchen towel while you work.

5. Spoon 1/4 teaspoon filing in center of 1 dough square. Gently pull 2 opposite corners outward to stretch dough slightly, then pull up to meet in center, and pinch to seal. Repeat with remaining 2 corners, making sure all air has been pressed out. Pinch together all 4 corners to form a point, then pinch along all 4 seams to seal. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, and cover with a damp kitchen towel. repeat. Remove towel, and cover with a piece of parchment. (Dumplings can be refrigerated on baking sheets, wrapped in plastic, for up to 1 day. Alternatively, freeze on baking sheets, uncovered, for 2 hours, then transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.) – We ended up having to make the dumplings slightly bigger than this…

6. For cooking and serving: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. Arrange manti in a single snug layer in the dish. Bake until fragrant and tops and corners are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

7. Whilst the manti are cooking in the oven. Add a glug of olive oil to a sauce pan, and add the diced garlic. Saute the garlic for a few minutes and then add the tomatoes. Season to taste. When the manti have finished baking serve with a dolop of tomato sauce. Yummy!

(Typically manti are served with a garlic yoghurt…but I figured that this would be just as good.)

Recipe adapted from The Bitten Word which was adapted from Martha Stewart Living. Thank you to both!