Turkish cuisine · Soups & Stews

Tutmaç Soup

Historic soup made from hand-cut squares of dough and lentils, finished with yogurt and garlic.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 200 g flour
• 1 egg
• 150 g red lentils
• 500 g yogurt
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1.2 l rich vegetable stock
• 50 g butter
• 1 tbsp mint
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper (pul biber)
• Salt

Instructions

1. Knead the flour, egg, 1 tsp salt and 60 ml water into a firm dough, shape into a ball, cover and let rest for 30 min.
2. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to 2 mm thickness and cut into squares about 1.5 cm across; let dry slightly on a cloth.
3. Rinse the red lentils, set to cook with the vegetable stock and simmer for 15 min. until soft but still holding their shape.
4. Sprinkle in the dough squares and cook for another 8–10 min. until tender and the soup looks noticeably thickened; stir occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom.
5. Whisk the yogurt with the crushed garlic and a ladleful of hot soup until smooth, then stir it in over the lowest heat and just warm through without boiling.
6. Melt the butter, let the mint and Aleppo pepper sizzle briefly in it, and pour over the soup to serve immediately.