Baked Beef Yalancı Mantı with Brown Chili Butter
Restaurant-style mantı pasta: crispy spiced beef and pasta baked in stock, finished with garlic yogurt and nutty brown chili butter.
Method
Mix the Greek yogurt with finely grated garlic and salt and leave it at room temperature. Finely chop the onion into 3 mm pieces and start preheating the oven to 200°C.
Add in this stepGreek yogurt (unsweetened) 220 gGarlic (cloves) 1Salt (for the yogurt) 1 pinch
Heat the olive oil in a 24 cm frying pan, add the onion and ground beef and cook over medium-high heat for , breaking the meat into small crumbs with a spatula. When the liquid has evaporated and the edges of the meat are brown and crisp, add the tomato paste, cumin, pul biber and salt and cook for 1 more minute.
Add in this stepOlive oil 1 tbspOnion 60 gGround beef 150 gTomato paste (for the meat) 1 tspGround cumin ½ tspPul biber (for the meat) or chili flakes ½ tspSalt (for the meat) ½ tsp
medium-high heatPut the water and salt in a 20 cm pot and heat over high heat for . When it reaches a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook over medium-high heat for . Drain it 2 to 3 minutes earlier than the packet says, while the centre is still a little firm; it finishes cooking in the oven.
Add in this stepWater 2 LSalt (for the pasta water) 1½ tspShort pasta (fusilli, farfalle, orecchiette, etc.) 180 g
high heat→medium-high heatSpread the pasta in a 20×20 cm baking dish, scatter the beef over the top and pour in the hot stock until the pasta is about half submerged. Bake in the oven for , until the stock is almost absorbed and the pasta at the edges is golden and crisp.
Add in this stepBeef stock (hot) 180 ml
ovenHeat the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat for . When the foam settles, brown specks form on the bottom and it smells nutty, turn off the heat and stir in the pul biber and mint so the butter turns red.
Add in this stepButter 30 gTurkish chili flakes (pul biber) or paprika 1 tspDried mint ½ tsp
medium-low heatDivide the baked pasta between plates, add a generous spoonful of garlic yogurt, spoon over the brown chili butter and finish with sumac and chopped parsley. Eat right away, before the crispy edges soften.
Add in this stepSumac (optional) ½ tspFlat-leaf parsley 5 g
Cook's tip
Too much stock makes the dish soggy instead of crisp. Pour in only enough to half cover the pasta, and if dry patches appear halfway through, spoon a little more over them. Brown butter goes from golden to burnt in seconds, so take it off the heat as soon as it smells nutty.
Cooking it at camp
Use a deep cast-iron pan with a lid or a Dutch oven instead of the oven. After browning the meat, add the pasta and stock to the same pan, cover and cook over low heat until the stock is absorbed, then uncover for 2 to 3 more minutes so the bottom catches slightly. Mix the garlic yogurt at home and keep it in the cool box.