Turkish Manti: A Colorful Holiday Dish BY DANA JACOBI FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH

Preparing for a holiday, many Americans get together to bake desserts like cookies. For festive occasions in Turkey, cooks get together and make manti: tiny, meat-filled pasta topped with garlic-pungent yogurt and a spicy tomato sauce. They make great holiday appetizers.

I first learned about manti through friends in Houston. Preparing manti, cooks compete to make them as small as possible. No matter the shape, they aim for manti small as the top joint of your little finger.

This requires rolling out the dough as thinly as possible, a skill that requires practice and a lot of time. I prefer a more carefree, easier alternative: ready-to-use won ton wrappers.

Making the filling and yogurt sauce for manti is simple - neither requires cooking. For an authentic tomato sauce, simmer a pound of chopped plum tomatoes until soft, about ten minutes, with a minced garlic clove, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Filling the manti can be fast work if you enlist a few friends, neighbors, or family members to help. Working together can also be fun as everyone chats, fills, folds, seals and sips hot cider.

Manti - Makes 64 manti, or 16 servings of 4 each

3 cups low-fat unflavored yogurt
3 garlic cloves
1 t/sp. salt
1/2 pound lean ground turkey
1 small onion, finely minced
1/4 cup finely minced flat-leaf parsley, lightly packed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
32 wonton wrappers, cut in half diagonally
Canola cooking oil spray
Commercially prepared tomato sauce

Drain yogurt in a sieve lined with a coffee filter or paper towel and set in a bowl, until liquid drained into the bowl leaves 2 cups of thick yogurt. (If yogurt contains starch or stabilizers, draining time will be prolonged; in this case, leaving yogurt in the sieve and bowl in the refrigerator overnight is recommended.)

Add garlic and salt to yogurt and mix until yogurt is creamy. Set aside. In a medium bowl, use a fork to mash turkey with onion, parsley, salt and pepper. Work the mixture until dough-like, about 4 minutes.

Cover a non-stick baking sheet with a light coating of flour. Set out a small bowl of warm water. Using one-half wonton wrapper at a time, lay one over the fingers of your left hand (if you’re right-handed; if not, do the reverse). Place 1/2 teaspoon filling in the center of the wonton. Use a fingertip to moisten edges of wonton with water. Bring the right corner to the left and press edges together to seal manti. Place on floured sheet. Repeat, making 64 manti. (Leftover filling can be used to make more manti or cook as hamburger patties.)

Lightly coat a non-stick baking sheet with canola oil spray and place near the stove. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Add manti, 16 at a time, and cook for 2 minutes after they float to the surface. Transfer manti with a slotted spoon to the oiled sheet, being careful manti don’t touch each other. Repeat with remaining uncooked manti.

Serve manti warm (heat gently in microwave), topped with 1/2 cup yogurt and a dollop of spicy tomato sauce. If refrigerated or frozen after cooking, lightly spray manti on all sides with canola oil spray before placing in containers.

Per serving: 103 calories, 2 g. total fat (less than 1 g. saturated fat), 14 g. carbohydrate, 7 g. protein, less than 1 g. dietary fiber, 356 mg. sodium.

“Something Different” is written by Dana Jacobi, author of 12 Best Foods Cookbook and contributor to AICR’s New American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life.

The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) is the cancer charity that fosters research on the relationship of nutrition, physical activity and weight management to cancer risk, interprets the scientific literature and educates the public about the results. It has contributed more than $86 million for innovative research conducted at universities, hospitals and research centers across the country. AICR has published two landmark reports that interpret the accumulated research in the field and is committed to a process of continuous review. AICR also provides a wide range of educational programs to help millions of Americans learn to make dietary changes for lower cancer risk. Its award-winning New American Plate program is presented in brochures, seminars and on its Web site, www.aicr.org. AICR is a member of the World Cancer Research Fund International.

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