Turkish Ezme Recipe

I saw a recipe on one of my favorite Turkish blogs the other day and could not wait to make it. You can see it here: http://ozlemsturkishtable.com/  Thank you Ozlem!  First I had to find the red pepper paste.  I found this at a Middle Eastern store.  Biber Salcasi.  Good stuff!

Our tomatoes are pretty horrible right now so I had to improvise.  I used my oven roasted tomatoes which have great flavor.

First, you dice a medium onion and using your hands, smooch them together with 1 tablespoon of the red pepper paste.  I have done this with other recipes and it is a great way to blend flavors when using onions.

Oops...out of order.  This is the finished dish.

I added some diced cucumber to add texture since I did not use fresh tomatoes.  I diced 2 fresh jalapenos, removing the veins so this would not be too spicy. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, salt and pepper, parsley and mint.  I forgot to buy fresh parsley and mint so I added dried.  Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and the juice from 1/2 lemon.  Mix this together very well and let it sit for a while to let the flavors develop.


I served it on garlic butter pitas along with some olives, feta, hummus, stuffed grape leaves and cucumbers with pomegranate molasses and sumac.
And baklava made a nice dessert.

Comments

Anonymous said…
oh my gosh, so exotic! Sounds amazing, looks beautiful, a heck of a lot better than the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I just ate!!!
brokenteepee said…
Man when you use those technical terms like smoosh I know I will NEVER be able to keep up ;)
Nellie said…
This must be full of flavor! Dessert is a real treat!
Hot Pepper Paste...

Mmmmmm, wimpy-me couldn't handle that.

Which just leaves all the more, for others. ,-)
It sounds very flavourful!
Baklava! I sometimes wait at the window for them to finish making it...everything looks sooo good!
My goodness Jaz, you are a star! Look at this spread, looks just amazing - can I come for dinner ??:)
Loved how you improvised Ezme; dried tomatoes, cucumbers for extra texture, all great. I always believe food should fit in how you enjoy it so I am all up for it:) I am delighted that you tried my recipe and so kind of you for mention, thank you!! xx Ozlem
luckybunny said…
This looks so, so, yummy.. the whole spread does. Now I'm hungry and I'm getting ready for bed!
luckybunny said…
This looks so, so, yummy.. the whole spread does. Now I'm hungry and I'm getting ready for bed!