Manti (hooray!) and Swiss Chard with Bulgur


We’ve been looking forward to making manti again (okay, I’ve been looking forward to Lisa making manti again), and the first day of fall sounded like a perfect excuse to make this Armenian favorite: Crispy little canoe-shaped dumplings stuffed with ground beef, onion, and allspice, in a bowl of chicken broth, topped with a dollop of garlic-yogurt.

Chris says:

Holy mackeral, I love this stuff. My favorite part is taking some of the leftover manti and just dipping it right into the garlic-yogurt. I could eat that every day and never tire of it. And I like that new side dish with the swiss chard. I’m glad we’re finding more things to do with the bulgur in the pantry.

Lisa says:

I love it too, but how about next time you spend an hour putting the manti together, and I’ll play on the computer. Also, that side dish ruled, but needed more garlic.

Chris says:

I don’t want to ruin perfection, so I think you should continue to be the designated manti-maker. Hey, haven’t we already featured this on the blog?

Lisa says:

Yeah, the very first post — but that’s back when you were lazy and weren’t listing the recipes. Besides, we made a new side dish with it, and have this picture of the manti before it went in the oven. I want to show off my hard work.

Manti
(from The Complete Armenian Cookbook)
—–
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, minced
salt, pepper, and allspice to taste
won ton wrappers
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp butter
sumac

To prepare the filling, combine the ground beef, onion, salt, pepper, and allspice in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside. Cut each sheet of won ton wrappers into four squares. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the center of each square. Pinch the two ends with your fingers to form a canoe-shaped pastry. Arrange the manti close together, meat-side up, in a well-buttered pan. Dot each with a bit of the butter. Bake at 350 degrees about 20-30 minute, or until the manti are golden brown. Keep warm. Heat the chicken broth. Combine the yogurt and garlic in a mixing bowl. To serve, place the manti into individual bowls, add the hot chicken broth and the garlic-yogurt. Sprinkle with the sumac, and serve.

4 Servings

Swiss Chard with Bulgur
(from Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine)
———————–
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, mashed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb Swiss chard, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup #3 bulgur
1 cup water
pepper

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent. Add the swiss chard to the onion and let them cook, over medium heat, for 6 to 10 minutes or until the Swiss chard has reduced in bulk. Make a hole in the center of the Swiss chard, add the bulgur, then cover it with the chard. Cook for 5 more minutes. Season with pepper. Add water and cook over low heat until the water has evaporated.

Serves 4


7 responses to “Manti (hooray!) and Swiss Chard with Bulgur”

  1. Oh my gosh, this recipe ROCKS!!! It was a little time-consuming, but not difficult. And the fixin’s were really inexpensive–a major plus right now. And sooooo good!!! Yum!

  2. I was looking for a recipe incorporating bulgur & chard, which is how I found this blog. One question: do you cook the stems of the chard first? Also, does the chard lose its nutritional properties with so much cooking? I look forward to trying it out-thanks!

  3. Hi Ruth — when Lisa made this dish she cooked the chard all at once, not worrying about the stems. I’m not sure about the nutritional value, but the taste was still there. 🙂

  4. made it–it was good! I did do the stems first just because they’re harder than the leaves. It was better after I let it sit for a day, so the bulgur could absorb more water.

  5. So an an Armenian reacquainting herself to the Armenian Kitchen, I was thrilled to find the manti recipe on your site. The last time I made it from scratch dough and all, was when I lived in Seattle and didn’t have my mom around to make it for me. The really sad part, I have the same cookbook you are referencing but it was so much easier to google it than to try to find my cookbook! Love that you are sharing the cuisine! I’ll be back to check out some of the other recipes 🙂

    Are either of you Armenian?

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