Turkish vegetarian rose ravioli with filo pastry; mushrooms make a delicious filling.
The traditional manti, Turkish dumplings or ravioli, was a central dish in the 15th century Ottoman cuisine. A very popular dish, it was cooked in imperial kitchens and was eaten by Sultan Mehmet II almost daily. This version of manti, traditionally made with “yufka”, the fresh pastry sheets, is a popular one at home and was a big hit at our Turkish cookery class last Saturday. These mantis are also named as “Sosyete Mantisi” or Gul Manti / Gul Boregi, as they look like the shape of rose.
Baked Turkish rose ravioli with filo pastry and mushroom filling; Mantarli Gul Manti or Gul Boregi
Gul Manti is traditionally made with ground meat and onion filling. We made a vegetarian version during our class, using chestnut mushrooms, onions, garlic and tomato; it proved to be a delicious vegetarian filling and we all enjoyed it.
Spread 1 ½ tablespoon of the mushroom mixture in a line the middle of the filo pastry.
Roll the pastry like a cigar. Seal the ends of the pastry with a little water.
Then, starting from one end, roll the cigar shape into a rose shape.
Seal the ends of the pastry well with a little water.
Rose ravioli, gul manti, may seem a little awkward to make but they look so attractive that the extra effort is worthwhile. Please bear in mind that filo pastry dries out quickly and may become difficult to work with. To prevent this, keep the pastry sheets under a damp dish towel and only take out one at a time. Above is a step by step photo of how to fold and bend the filo pastry into the rose shape. If the pastry breaks as you fold/bend, please don’t worry. Keep a bowl of water by your side and seal all the broken parts with water and patch with a little pastry. It will all work just fine at the end.
Baked Turkish rose ravioli with mushrooms, gul manti; we served bulgur and potato patties aside at our Turkish cookery class
With the garlicky yoghurt and red pepper flakes infused olive oil drizzled over, these rose raviolis with mushroom filling make an impressive, delicious course. We served them with bulgur and potato patties, bulgurlu, patatesli kofte with pomegranate molasses aside, they complemented each other well.
Afiyet Olsun,
Ozlem
- 260 gr / 9 oz. filo pastry sheets, thawed
- 225 gr / 8 oz. chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and chopped finely
- 1 onion, very finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 small to medium tomatoes, finely diced
- 1 bunch or ½ cup Italian flat leaf parsley, freshly chopped
- 30 ml/ 2 tbsp. olive oil
- Salt and freshly grounded black pepper
- 4 fl oz. / ½ cup vegetable stock
- For garlic yoghurt:
- 260 gr / 9 oz. natural plain yoghurt, brought to room temp.
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed with salt
- For red pepper infused sauce:
- 30 ml/ 2 tbsp. butter or olive oil
- 5-10 ml/ 1-2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Dried mint to sprinkle over to finish the rose ravioli
- Small bowl of cold water aside to shape and seal the rose ravioli
- Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C
- For best results, thaw the frozen filo pastry in the fridge overnight and bring it to the room temperature30 minutes before using. That enables the filo thaw completely. If it is fresh as in the UK, you only need to bring the filo to the room temperature 30 minutes before using.
- Bring the yoghurt to room temperature by taking out the fridge and set aside in a warm spot in the kitchen.
- Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and chop finely.
- Sauté the chopped onions with some olive oil for a couple of minutes, until soft.
- Add the mushrooms and the garlic, cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened and most of the liquid is evaporated. Stir in the tomatoes and gently cook for another 3 – 5 minutes, until most of the juice is evaporated.
- Season with salt and pepper, add the parsley and mix well. Set aside to cool.
- Grease a baking tray with 1 tbsp. olive oil.
- On a dry surface, place the filo pastry sheets on top of one another and cut in half horizontally to form rectangles. Place damp paper towel over them to keep moist. Have a bowl of water near you.
- Take out two rectangular filo pastry sheets on a dry surface (cover the rest of the filo pastry with damp towel).
- Spread 1 ½ tablespoon of the mushroom mixture in a line the middle and roll like a cigar. Seal the ends of the pastry with a little water.
- Then, starting from one end, roll the cigar shape into a rose shape sealing the end again with a little water. Make sure you seal all the openings/cracks with a little water. If any bigger cracks appear, you can patch it with a little pastry, sealing with water again, it works.
- Brush the gul manti with a little olive oil and place them on a greased tray. Repeat this with all rectangles.
- Bake in the oven for about 20 – 25 minutes or until golden.
- Take the gul manti out of the oven once they are golden brown. Then place a dessert spoonful of stock on each hot manti and put in the oven for another 5 minutes to soak up the stock. The finished rose mantis should be nice and crispy outside and moist inside.
- For the garlic yoghurt; whisk together the yoghurt and the crushed garlic in a bowl until smooth and creamy.
- For the red pepper infused sauce; melt the butter (or gently heat the olive oil) in a small pan. Add the red pepper flakes and mix well.
- Place the hot rose ravioli (gul manti) on a serving dish. Pour the garlic yoghurt over it first then dribble the peppery sauce over the garlic yoghurt.
- Finish the dish by sprinkling dried mint over it and serve immediately.
2) You can freeze the baked gul mantis, rose ravioli. They can be successfully reheated on a greased tray (at 350 F /180C for about 15 minutes)