Etli makarna: Turkish pasta with lamb, tomato and garlic yogurt
Globe Style's new summer cookbook series, running through mid-September, 2016, features delicious reads that highlight hot culinary trends and inspiring ideas for warm-weather entertaining.
Some of the best cookbooks are origin stories. After a chef has become known for a hot restaurant or popularizing a style of cuisine, they can feel the urge to return to the places and people that inspired them to pick up a pot in the first place, and write down a mix of memories and everyday recipes. That's the premise of Turkish Fire, restaurateur Sevtap Yüce's follow-up to her books Turkish Flavours and Turkish Meze. Though now based in Yamba, Australia, where she runs Beachwood restaurant, Yüce takes us back to her native Ankara and its street-food culture in Turkish Fire. Laid out in three chapters – food for morning (sweet bread sprinkled with slivered almonds), noon (black-eyed bean salad) and night (lamb chops with figs) – it mixes wanderlust-inducing images of the Turkish capital with appetizing food photography of approachable, wholesome dishes like the Etli Makarna featured here. – Andrew Sardone
Excerpted from Turkish Fire by Sevtap Yüce (Hardie Grant Books RRP, 2016), $39.95 at retailers across Canada.
A deliciously simple lunch, this dish is fantastic eaten hot or cold, and is so good that no one will complain if you decide to serve it for dinner! If you like, serve a small bowl of long green chilies on the side, for extra fire and crunch.
Pul biber is a crushed red powder made from dried aleppo peppers. It is mild to medium in heat, and the Turkish love sprinkling it over just about anything. If you can't find it in spice shops or Middle Eastern grocery stores, you can use chili flakes instead.
Servings: 4
PASTA
140 mL (4½ ounces) olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 long green chilies, finely diced
200 grams (7 ounces) vine-ripened tomatoes, finely diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
200 grams (7 ounces) ground lamb
1 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons pul biber
500 grams bow-tie pasta
Garlic yogurt (recipe below)
Torn mint leaves
GARLIC YOGURT
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 cups plain, Greek-style yogurt
Method
Heat ¼ cup of the olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the onion for 6 to 8 minutes, or until soft.
Add the chili, tomatoes, tomato paste and lamb and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the parsley and cook for a few minutes, until the lamb is cooked through. Stir in the pul biber, then remove from the heat and allow to rest while cooking the pasta. Reheat the tomato sauce for a few minutes just before serving.
Add the pasta to a large saucepan of boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions. Drain, then return to the pan and toss with the remaining olive oil.
Divide the hot pasta among serving bowls. Spoon the tomato sauce over, then add a good dollop of garlic yogurt to each bowl. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.
GARLIC YOGURT
Crush the garlic cloves to a smooth paste using a mortar and pestle. Gently fold the garlic and salt through the yogurt (don’t stir too vigorously as you don’t want the yogurt to liquefy). Cover and refrigerate until required. The garlic yogurt is best served cold, as it tends to get a little runny at room temperature.