Viral recipes & idle weekend kitchen fun

Turkish Lamb Pasta & Chunky Chilli Crisp

There seems to be a complete lack of pattern to my recipes this week; a mishmash of what I’m genuinely enjoying for dinner at the moment, and my favourite slow & easy recipe for a cupboard staple to enjoy making at the weekend.

What I can vouch for is that, while very different, these are two very delicious & dependable recipes.

Viral Turkish Lamb Pasta

Outrageously popular influencer, Anna Paul, posted a video of making dinner with her mum of Turkish heritage. A simple mixture of crispy lamb mince, garlic yoghurt, spiced butter and some fresh salad bits on top. Before long, my feeds across all platforms were filled with people (successfully) making and enjoying this concoction.

I had a further look into the dish and its place in Turkish cuisine and came across Meliz Berg’s recipe where she cooks the raw pasta within the mince mixture with enough stock to create a saucy, glossy and delightfully rich mixture, to which she tops with, like Anna Paul, garlic yoghurt & spiced butter.

So here is a mash up of the two recipes taking the best bits from each; Anna Paul’s added freshness in the form of diced tomatoes & parsley with Meliz’s one pot approach.

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the mince mixture:

400g lamb mince

1 onion - finely diced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

2 tbsp tomato puree

200g dried pasta - traditionally conchiglie but anything will work

650ml chicken stock

For the garlic yoghurt:

100g greek yoghurt

1 garlic clove - minced

For the spiced butter:

50g butter

1 tbsp Turkish red pepper paste

1 tsp pul bibir / aleppo pepper flakes

Toppings:

3 tomatoes - diced

20g fresh parsley

1 tsp dried mint

Method:

Fry the mince in some oil until well browned and crispy before frying off the onion for a few minutes with the mince and its fat. Add the cumin, paprika and tomato puree, cook off for a few minutes, stir through the dried pasta before adding in the stock and leaving to cook for 15 mins or until the pasta is soft.

Meanwhile, mix the garlic yoghurt in a bowl and set aside. Melt the butter in a small pan, add in pepper paste and flakes and set aside.

When your pasta is soft and saucy, pour into a large bowl, top with the garlic yoghurt, drizzle over the spiced butter and sprinkle over the tomatoes and herbs.

Chunky Chilli Crisp

Where to start with chilli sauces, oils, drizzles; from Tabasco to sriracha, the amount of spicy condiments on offer is overwhelming.

One of my favourites which has really gained traction in the last few years is Laoganma “crispy chilli oil” which has opened up an array of Szechuan style chilli oils which aren’t too spicy with chunky bits of garlic and chilli suspended in a tingly oil, sometimes even dried shrimp or fermented beans thrown in.

This is my version - heavy on the garlic, lots of texture and won’t blow your head off. Spoon generously over scrambled eggs, beans on toast or, of course, any rice/noodle dish.

Making this on a weekend afternoon is such an enjoyable way to spend an hour or 2, especially if you’re jarring it up to gift to a friend.

Ingredients:

600ml vegetable oil

4 shallots - finely sliced

3 red chillies - finely sliced

10 cloves of garlic - finely sliced

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp szechuan peppercorns, bashed in a pestle & mortar

1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) - optional

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsp soy sauce (I use gluten free in case anyone comes over has a restriction)

Method:

Pour the oil into a high sided pan and heat up to 170C.

Start by frying the shallots until golden brown, remove and drain into a rack. Repeat with the chillies then garlic.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl (chilli flakes, cinnamon, star anise, peppercorns, salt & sugar) then pour over the hot oil.

Leave to cool completely before seasoning with the soy sauce and adding back in the crispy fried elements.

Store in an airtight jar in the cupboard.