Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F

Step 2

Prepare the topping first. Combine the crumbled feta (or cokelek), red pepper paste, tomato paste all the spices, sesame seeds and olive oil. Knead with your hands to blend them well to form a smooth paste. Set the topping aside.

Step 3

Now let’s make the dough. Combine the flour, dried yeast and salt in a large bowl.

Step 4

Stir in the warm milk, warm water and olive oil and knead for 3 minutes to form a soft dough. If it gets sticky, drizzle a little extra olive oil in your hand to shape the dough, it really helps.

Step 5

Grease a baking tray with 1 tbsp. olive oil and spread the dough as a thin flat bread base, reaching all the edges (about ¼ cm, 0.9”).

Step 6

Spread the topping evenly over the flat bread.

Step 7

Leave the flat bread with topping on at a warm spot to rise for 30 minutes.

Step 8

Once the dough's risen, bake in the preheated oven (180 C / 350 F) for 18 – 20 minutes.

Step 9

Let the baked flat bread with spicy feta cheese topping, Biberli Ekmek to cool down for 15 minutes.

Step 10

Slice and serve as part of a mezze spread or with tea, Turkish cay.

Step 11

Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C

Step 12

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.

Step 13

Bring the yoghurt to room temperature by taking out the fridge and set aside in a warm spot in the kitchen.

Step 14

Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and chop finely.

Step 15

Sauté the chopped onions with some olive oil for a couple of minutes, until soft.

Step 16

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.

Step 17

Season with salt and pepper, add the parsley and mix well. Set aside to cool.

Step 18

Grease a baking tray with 1 tbsp. olive oil.

Step 19

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.

Step 20

Take out two rectangular filo pastry sheets on a dry surface (cover the rest of the filo pastry with damp towel).

Step 21

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.

Step 22

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.

Step 23

Brush the gul manti with a little olive oil and place them on a greased tray. Repeat this with all rectangles.

Step 24

Bake in the oven for about 20 – 25 minutes or until golden.

Step 25

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.

Step 26

For the garlic yoghurt; whisk together the yoghurt and the crushed garlic in a bowl until smooth and creamy.

Step 27

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.

Step 28

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.

Step 29

Finish the dish by sprinkling dried mint over it and serve immediately.

Step 30

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F

Step 31

Stir in the dried yeast and sugar in a small bowl and pour in ½ cup warm water. Dissolve the yeast in water, mixing with your fingers. Set aside for the yeast mixture to get frothy for 5 minutes.

Step 32

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in 2 tbsp. olive oil and the yeast mixture. Pour in the remaining ½ warm water to the flour mixture. Using your hands, draw in the flour from the sides and work the mixture into a dough. Knead for 3 -5 minutes, until you reach a soft, smooth dough. The dough gets sticky as you knead, so pour the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil and stir in additional 2 tbsp. flour to help shape into a soft dough.

Step 33

Place the dough in large bowl and cover with a cling film. Leave it in a warm place for minimum 1 hour; it will be doubled in size.

Step 34

In the meantime, prepare your filling. Heat 15ml/1tbsp. olive oil in a wide heavy pan and stir in the onions and peppers. Sauté the onions and peppers for 3-5 minutes over medium heat, until they start to soften. Turn the heat off and stir in the spinach, red pepper paste (if using) and feta cheese, combine well. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper; the topping is ready.

Step 35

Once the dough is risen, place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for a minute then divide the dough into two pieces and roll into two balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough balls into 2 oval shapes of 20 cm x 40 cm (about 8”x16”), with ½ cm (0.2”) thickness.

Step 36

Line a large baking tray with baking paper and place the 2 oval flat bread dough on the tray.

Step 37

Spread the filling evenly over the 2 flat breads, leaving 2 cm at the edges as a border with no filling (I’ve found it’s easier to spread the filling while the oval dough is in the tray). Fold in the sides to act as border to keep the filling intact. Squeeze the oval dough at each end to make it pointy.

Step 38

Beat an egg in a small bowl and mix it with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Brush the edges of dough with this mixture. Bake for 25 minutes, until the pides golden brown and crispy at the edges.

Step 39

Once cool, cut into slices and serve.