UEFA Euro 2024 Special

Thankful that Türkiye got through to the quarterfinals and I managed to try some amazing vegan dishes from this country.

mercimek koftesi

First up are lentil balls that seem to be made in domestic kitchens but are rarely found in restaurants; a perfect addition to my meze spread. I found a great recipe by Vidar Bergum - https://vidarbergum.com/recipe/turkish-lentil-meatballs-mercimek-koftesi/ . I missed out the raw onion and the Turkish hot pepper paste (acı biber salçası) but somewhat regret that... my version lacked flavour somehow. Next time I will make my own version of the hot pepper paste- https://silkroadrecipes.com/turkish-pepper-paste-biber-salcasi/

Eating the mercimek koftesi

Next up is a beautiful Aubergine in tomato sauce known as soslu patlican or şakşuka. Again I used a recipe from Vidar Bergum and just cut down on the amounts- https://vidarbergum.com/recipe/aubergine-tomato-sauce-soslu-patlican/

Cutting up the aubergine

Coating the aubergine in olive oil before putting in the air fryer for about 15 minutes at 200C

Frying off the onion for about 10 minutes

Adding garlic and cooking for about a minute and then tomato (I used tin tomatoes) and cooking for another 10 minutes

Adding the aubergine and cooking until the aubergine is soft

Serving the soslu patlican or şakşuka with a topping of chilli peppers and scattering of flat leaf parsley

I served this with a delicious tomato and walnut salad(Gavurdağ salatası) from https://vidarbergum.com/recipe/tomato-walnut-salad-gavurdag-salatasi/.

Chopped tomato, spring onion (I missed out the finely chopped onion), extra virgin oil and lemon juice

Adding the pomegranate molasses and sumac

Adding the finely chopped walnuts, pul biber (I used chilli peppers that I had) and finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Serving with topping of roughly chopped walnuts

From bottom left on the plate - tomato and walnut salad, aubergine with tomatoes, lentil balls. Served with mint tea.

Score: Türkiye 1 Netherlands 2

Football Score :4 (Disappointed that Türkiye did not do better but a great game)

Food: 3 (The tomato and walnut salad and aubergine were super delicious but I found that the lentil balls needed something else)

Fast, Cheap and Good