Monday, January 2, 2012

Yesterday, we started the new year with a simple, soul-satisfying Turkish-Italian soup.

Technically, you only need two ingredients to make this soup inspired by our Italy trip to Bologna last year. Perfect since we didn't have much in our apartment!

From the freezer, I pulled out a bag of leftover turkey stock (from Thanksgiving) and a half-kilo bag of manti - small Turkish raviolis or dumplings. These dumplings, usually made from seasoned ground beef or lamb and wrapped in egg pasta, are served with a garlic-yogurt sauce in Turkey. However, I had a different idea in mind for my manti.
The Turkish manti are about 1/2-inch in diameter, and they freeze well.
There's a tiny corner shop in Nişantaşı that sells fresh manti and yufka. The shop is located down the street from Migros on Ihlamur Nişantaşı Yolu Sokak. One kilo of manti costs 15 TL. Of course, you can always find manti sold at your neighborhood pazar too.

See, the manti reminded me of the tiny tortellini often seen floating in steaming bowls full of tortellini in brodo - a traditional soup in the regions of Bologna and Modena in Italy. (Read history of the tortellini soup here.) Our favorite flavor-packed tortellini in brodo was eaten at Trattoria Anna Maria in Bologna.
We had a lovely meal at this Bolognese trattoria - filled with pork and Italian wine!
This photo doesn't do the soup justice! The tortellini often is filled with a mixture of seasoned
ground pork, Parmesan cheese, egg and spices
. 
Since the soup is based on a rich, flavorful stock, you must start with a homemade stock for best results. I knew my leftover well-seasoned turkey stock, boiled down for two hours from the turkey carcass, would best be utilized here. You certainly aren't going to find a capon at your local butcher here in Turkey or even in the U.S., so make a stock from a chicken or turkey instead.

Bring the broth to a boil and plop in the little dumplings. In a few minutes, your soup will be ready to serve. Hopefully, this will help cure my winter cold I brought back from the U.S.

Afiyet olsun!
What's for dinner? Manti in Brodo at our home in Istanbul.
Manti in Brodo/Turkish Ravioli in Broth Soup

Ingredients:

1          T.         sunflower oil
1          large    onion, small diced
4-6       ea.        garlic cloves, chopped small
500      g.         manti or tortellini
3          L.         homemade chicken or turkey stock
Garnish:           freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, saute' until softened, about five minutes.

Add the stock and bring to a boil, covered with a lid.

Then, add the manti or tortellini into the boiling stock. Let simmer for 7-10 minutes. The manti will float to the surface when done cooking. Season the stock with salt and pepper, if necessary.

Serve the soup immediately in warmed bowls, topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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4 comments:

Becca Ramspott said...

Yum, this looks good! January is the perfect time for a nice bowl of delicious soup! I am somewhat obsessed with making soup. Love how your blog looks, too, Joy. Nice layout and bright and inviting. Can't wait to see you!!

jaz@octoberfarm said...

you are back! did you have a good trip? i made 2 wonderful capons over the holidays and used them for other soup. now i must buy another so i can make this! i will have to make my own dumplings though.

Joy said...

@ Becca, can't wait to see you tomorrow as well and show off this fine city!

@ Jaz, yes, good trip, but happy to be back and settling back into my "normal" life. =) So you can find capons? Great! There are some manti recipes out there. I've never made them from scratch yet.

Sue @ Desperate Kitchen Goddess said...

Love your blog! Please check out the Manti recipe I tried on my blog http://desperatekitchengoddess.blogspot.com/ I love Turkish cooking. Really wish to invest in a good Turking cooking book and would also wish I could get hold of the Sumac spice which I adore!