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Potato, red onion, pepper and olive bake with cumin and chili flakes

By Ozlem Warren on October 27, 2014 in Appetizers and Mezes, Gluten-free recipes, Vegetables Cooked in Olive Oil 15

Baked potatoes, peppers, red onion and olives with cumin and red pepper flakes

Merhaba to you all; this week, I would like to share this favorite easy, delicious all in one vegetarian course – Spiced potatoes, onions, pepper and olives baked in olive oil. Touch of warm, pungent cumin and spicy Turkish red pepper flakes add a lot of flavor to the vegetables here, especially to the humble potato, transforming their taste to a new level. The sweetness of peppers and red onions also give a lovely contrast to juicy, salty olives and complement one another really well. As always, it is all about using a few good, seasonal ingredients and you have a delicious, wholesome dish in hand in less than 1 hour.

Combine the spices and the seasoning with the vegetables and olives, giving them a good mix, before baking

You can serve this comforting, gluten-free course as a side to grills or as part of a mezze spread. It can be also be a delicious, light main course on its own with the Cacik dip of cucumber, yoghurt with dried mint and some crusty bread aside. You can also bake this dish ahead of time and give it a gentle reheat in the oven just before serving. Try to get good quality olives; Turkish, Italian, Spanish or Greek Kalamata olives all work well and really make a difference.

Turkish cuisine is healthy, delicious and packed full of easy, wholesome vegetarian options like this recipe. I am passionate about my homeland’s scrumptious Turkish cuisine; over 90 authentic Turkish recipes are included at my Gourmand award winner cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland. Signed copies are available at this link and delivered worldwide.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 1 reviews

Potato, red onion, pepper and olive bake with cumin and chili flakes

Hope you enjoy this delicious all in one vegetarian course - Spiced potatoes, onions, pepper and olives baked in olive oil. Touch of warm, pungent cumin and spicy red pepper flakes add a lot of flavor to the vegetables here, especially to the humble potato, transforming their taste to a new level. You can serve this lovely, gluten-free course as a side to grills or as part of a mezze spread.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegetables baked in olive oil with spices

Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1kg / 2.2 lb. medium potatoes, quartered
2 medium red onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
2 red bell pepper (or pointy pepper), deseeded, quartered and thinly sliced
12- 14 good quality black olives, pitted and halved
15 ml/ 3 tsp. ground cumin
10 ml / 2 tsp. Turkish red pepper flakes or chili flakes (you can use more for a spicier taste)
30 ml / 2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F
Put the quartered potatoes in a large enough pan with plenty of cold water.
Parboil or partially cook the potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a pan and stir in the sliced red onions and peppers. Sautee for 5 minutes, until they start to soften up, turn the heat off.
Grease the baking tray with a good drizzle (about 2 tbsp.) of olive oil. Combine the parboiled potatoes, sautéed red onions, peppers and the pitted black olives in the tray. Include any remaining olive oil in the pan of the sautéed red onions and peppers to the baking tray.
Stir in the ground cumin and red pepper flakes over the vegetables. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
Using your hands, combine the spices and the seasoning with the vegetables and olives, giving them a good mix.
Bake for 35 minutes at 200 C/ 400 F and serve hot.

Turkish vegetarian rose ravioli with filo pastry; Mantarli Gul Manti

By Ozlem Warren on October 13, 2014 in Appetizers and Mezes, Savory Pastries, Turkish Festive Dishes 11

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

Turkish vegetarian rose ravioli with filo pastry; Mantarli Gul Manti

With the garlicky yoghurt and red pepper flakes infused olive oil drizzled over, these vegetarian Turkish rose raviolis (or Gul Manti / Gul Boregi) with mushroom filling make an impressive, delicious course. Filo pastry is used here, please follow the instructions so that they won't get dried. Afiyet Olsun!

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Savory Pastries

Cuisine: Turkish cuisine

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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.

Notes

1) Filo pastry dries out very quickly and becomes unworkable. To prevent this, keep the pastry sheets under a damp dish towel or paper tpwel and only take out one at a time. Any leftover pastry can be rolled up, sealed in a freezer bag and kept in the freezer.
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)

Wholesome Turkish Cuisine, use of spices and Hospitality above all

By Ozlem Warren on September 29, 2014 in Farmers Market in England, Turkish Spices 21

Elmbridge Food Festival at Painshill Park, Surrey – England

Talking about Turkish cuisine and culinary heritage at the demo theatre, Elmbridge Food Festival

I was delighted to be one of the guest speakers at the Elmbridge Food Festival at the Painshill Park’s, the beautiful 18th century landscape garden, Surrey – England last weekend. The festival showcased the local produce, artisanal bakery as well as ethnic cuisines in Surrey. It was a gorgeous weekend with sun upon us and a well-attended enthusiastic crowd at the demo theatre.

So much to talk about (now that I was given a mic and a crowd!); Turkish hospitality, importance of seasonality, use of spices and more

Fresh fruit and vegetables galore at the markets, pazar, in Turkey

It was a great opportunity to talk about delicious, wholesome Turkish cuisine and that it is beyond kebabs (as much as we love them). Turkish cuisine is based on fresh, seasonal produce. We are a lucky nation blessed with four seasons and abundance of seasonal fruit and vegetables regularly on display at farmer’s markets, pazar. In addition to fresh produce, wholesome grains like bulgur, legumes, dried fruits and nuts also feature frequently in Turkish cuisine. Here is some more information on Turkish cuisine and culinary traditions, if you like.

My sweet models displaying dried bell peppers and eggplants!

The dried bell peppers, eggplants (aubergines) and baby okra attracted a lot of attention (thanks to my sweet helpers!) during the food festival. This is a mainly southern Turkish tradition; the excess produce of meaty peppers, aubergines (eggplants) and baby okra are dried under the hot sun in the summer at the southern part of Turkey. The flesh and seeds of the eggplants and pepper are taken out and left for drying at the regions of Antakya and Gaziantep. They will end up having a rich, concentrated flavor and delicious when stuffed with ground meat and aromatic rice, as in these stuffed dried eggplants and peppers, kuru patlican ve biber dolmasi.

Hummus, flavored with red pepper flakes infused olive oil

The fresh produce, grains and legumes are also flavored with artful use of spices in Turkish cuisine. For instance, we use pungent, warm cumin often. Combined with chickpeas and tahini, cumin is the spice that makes hummus taste like hummus. Cumin is wonderful on lamb and beef; with chickpeas, lentils, cabbage, eggplant and cooked tomato; or combined with spices like dried mint, paprika, cilantro (coriander) and saffron. It’s also perfect with garlic or fennel.

Ezo Gelin Corba, Turkish red lentil and bulgur soup, flavored with dried mint and red pepper flakes.

How about the hearty Red lentils and bulgur soup, Ezo Gelin Corba? This spicy red lentil soup is one of my favorites; rich in fiber and protein and flavored with the refreshing dried mint and smoky, spicy Turkish red pepper flakes or chili flakes. It is a very satisfying, heartwarming meal itself with some crusty bread aside. You can read more about spices used in Turkish cuisine here; they are a wholesome way of adding flavors naturally.

Turkish Delights, Lokum

We finished our talk with the Turkish Delights, Lokum, one of Turkey’s hallmarks. The real thing is much more fragrant, less sweet and packed with flavor, compared to the ones I came across abroad. Therefore I decided to make my own Turkish delight and demonstrated in one of of Turkish cookery classes. You’d be pleasantly surprised to see it is easier than you think, though bear in mind that home made lokum will be softer than the commercial ones but packed with flavor. Here’s my home made Turkish delight recipe, if you’d like to try out.

Serving Turkish Delights at the Elmbridge Food Festival

One of the highlights of my talk at the food festival was the hospitality, generosity of Turkish cuisine and culture. Hospitality is a big part of Turkish culture and you can feel it everyday life all around. I vividly remember friends and extended family members knocking the door of my Grandmother’s 400 year old house in Antakya spontaneously and happily welcomed to the dinner table. We would all sit around her courtyard dinner table under the fig tree and have a feast of senses with arrays of wonderful mezzes, abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables cooked in olive oil (Zeytinyaglilar), succulent kebabs and many more. You will be offered tea or Turkish coffee in the banks, shops, wherever you go with a smile. Turkish saying “Basimin ustunde yerin var” (“I would place you above my head”) I think sums the Turkish hospitality very well. We Turks place our guests at the top of our heads and would be delighted to share our food with them, even it is some fresh bread and cheese.