TURKISH DUMPLINGS (MANTI)

I called it Turkish Dumplings but it could also be called Turkish Tortolini.  Is this dish time consuming to make? Yes.  Is this dish bad for a meal if you are dieting? Yes.  Is this dish deeelicious? Absolutely!!  Not only is this dish a favorite of my girls, it is also a favorite of all their friends from school.  Even when their first reaction was eeewww!

2 Eggs

2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

6.5 cup flour

Filling:

300 gr lean ground beef

2 onions

1/2 bunch parsley
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Sprinkle:

2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Sauce:

Garlic yogurt (see the recipe in the sauce section)
Sumac, mint, red pepper flakes

For those who don't like yogurt, regular spaghetti sauce also works well.

• Mix the eggs with salt.  Add in water.  Slowly add the flour.  First 4 cups is pretty easy as it is still soft but it starts thickening after that.  Add 1 cup of flour at a time and continue to knead.  You need a fairly solid dough. Cover. Set aside to rest about 30 minutes. 
• Prepare the filling by mixing all of the ingredients (ground beef, graded onion, parsley, salt and black pepper)
• When ready to make the manti, cut dough into 8 equal parts. 
• Take 1 part dough and roll out on a floured surface.  It doesn't have to be rolled out too thin and cut small square pieces (see picture below)
• Put a small piece of filling on each square and fold.  To fold, first make a triangle and then make the ends meet (see picture below). Shape is really not that important.  You just need to make sure that it does not come apart during cooking.  Put each one on a lined pan apart from each other to make sure they don't stick.
• To cook boil salted water (just like cooking spaghetti). Drop Manti in making sure they don't stick to one another.  I usually drop them in one at a time but you need to do this fairly quickly.  They will first sink to the bottom, then as they cook, they will float.  Cook for 10 minutes.
• If you want to make soup later, you should save some of the water.  Otherwise, you can drain
• Serve with garlic yogurt and the sauce on top.  Sprinkle with sumac and dried mint

Hint #1: Because this is hard to make, I make a big batch and freeze.  To do this you make the Manti, and put on a smaller pan.  Put in the freezer until they are frozen.  Once frozen, you can move them to a container.  They will not stick to one another.  You can just take them out and cook when you need them.

Hint #2: You can also make manti soup.  Just add the water you saved.  You can even add in a couple of spoonfuls of cooked chick peas.