Manti

The recipe serves 5-8, depending on your guests. Bake at 350°. Click here to watch the video.

Recipe provided by Mihran Boudakian

Dietary Notes:

Dairy free (substitution required for garnish), nut free, peanut free

What you'll need:

• 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of ground beef

• 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs or 8 cups) of all purpose flour

• 550 mL (2 and ⅕ cups) of lukewarm water

• 1 L (4 cups) of chicken stock

• 1 large spanish onion, finely diced

• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of salt, divided

• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of olive oil

• ½ tablespoon (7.5 mL) of black pepper

• ½ tablespoon (7.5 mL) of aleppo pepper.

• A dollop of full fat yogurt to serve (optional)

• Sumac for garnish

Finding the ingredients, and substitutions:

Chef Mihran says you can find aleppo pepper at any middle eastern store, they should have sumac too. If you can’t get aleppo, use an equal portion of paprika.

The steps:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine water, half of the salt, and the olive oil. Mix to dissolve the salt.

2. Then add your flour, and mix in a standing mixture (or by hand) until the dough is smoothly combined. If the dough is too dry, add a little more water, if too wet, add flour.

3. Roll dough into roughly baseball-sized balls, and let sit for 20 minutes, covered.

4. In a new mixing bowl, combine diced onion, the remaining salt, pepper and aleppo pepper, and mix until the onions are coated.

5. Add the beef, mix thoroughly and set your mixture aside.

6. Once the dough has rested, flour your workspace and roll out one ball of dough, rolling always from the center, until the dough is about 1-2 mm (1/16 inch) thick. Slice your dough into squares.

7. Form small balls of meat, about 1-2 cm (½ inch) diameter, and place one on each square of dough. Fold the corners of each piece of dough towards the center, pinching the top, to form a dumpling, and place each on a cooking tray.

8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you’re out of dough and beef!

9. Cook your Manti at 350° until golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating once at 15 minutes.

10. In a saucepan, mix chicken stock and tomato paste. Mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. For a richer sauce, add a nub of butter.

11. Once your Manti has cooled, serve into a shallow bowl. Pour over your tomato sauce, add a dollop of full fat yogurt, and garnish with sumac.

Chef Mihran reminded us that Manti is not a soup! So don’t go too hard on the tomato sauce.

Enjoy!