Mushroom Meat Stuffing

1. Pulse the mushrooms, onions, garlic, sea salt and pepper until finely chopped.
2. Over medium-high heat, saute the vegetable mixture for 5 – 7 minutes until the water from the mushrooms has completely dissolved (See stuffing photo for texture and consistency). Taste test for additional salt and pepper.

Dough

1. Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of water to the flour. Knead the dough and slowly add more water, by the 1/4 cup, until the dough is smooth (We used 2 1/2 cups total). Press and knead the dough with your hands for 8 -10 minutes until it is firm and smooth dough.
2. Divide the dough into two round portions and lightly flour the counter. Cover half the dough with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, rolling the dough as thin as you can. Tip: In Turkish, they say your should knead the dough and roll it out until the dough is the texture of your ear lobe.
3. Cut the rectangle into 2-inch rectangles with a pastry roller or knife. Place about 1 teaspoons of the mushroom-meat filling in the center of each rectangle. Seal the dumplings by gathering the edges of the dough and pinching the ends together at the top to form a little “manti package”. See photos for reference.
4. Transfer the manta to a floured baking pan. Toss the manta noodles in flour to prevent sticking. At this step, you can freeze the manti, in sealed plastic bags if you are going to serve the manti later.

Tomato Sauce

1. Add tomato sauce and garlic to a pan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a light boil and simmer for 1/2 an hour while cooking the manta.

Yogurt Sauce

1. Combine the optional garlic and yogurt in a small bowl.

“Butter” Sauce

1. Over low heat, bring oil to a light simmer with hot pepper flakes. Leave to simmer, on low heat, until the red pepper flakes have started to color the oil.

Cook the Manta

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Throw manta noodles into rapidly boiling water and cook for 5 – 7 minutes until the manti is cooked (make sure to not over cook). Strain the manti and serve warm. Layer a scoop of tomato sauce and yogurt on top of the manta. Drizzle with the “butter” sauce” on top of the manta noodles (in that particular order). Garnish with mint, sumak and hot pepper flakes.