Sunday Brunch with BTT – Turkish Menemen

Eggs Scrambled in Tomato Salsa is the way I choose to describe my favourite Turkish dish to the uninitiated.  This dish looked, tasted and presented a little differently each time I ate it in Turkey. 

Budget Travellers rejoice – at approximately 4 tl each, the two cheapest dishes available on every Menu in Turkey are Lentil Soup and Menemen.  Either one combined with the (gratis) basket of bread on every table, provides a delicious and filling meal.

I have been hanging out for Menemen.  It has been two whole months since we said Güle Güle to Türkiye. 

Inspired by my new (Christmas Pressie) tapas pans – just perfect to cook and serve Menemen in – I spent this morning reading and combining recipes until arriving at my own.

The result was one of the best Menemens I have tasted.  Bashful right?

My Menemen Recipe

Serves 2 – halve the ingredients between the two individual pans.

1 medium Red Onion

1/2 medium Green Capsicum

1 smallish clove of Garlic

1/2 large Shallot

1 Red Chilli (not extremely hot)

3 medium Ripe Tomatoes (I used two egg tomatoes and one round tomato)

2 Tomatoes from a tin of Italian Tomatoes

2 teaspoons of Tomato Paste

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

2 teaspoons of Margarine/Butter

2 pinches of Cumin

Ground Salt and Pepper

4 medium eggs

METHOD.

1. Chop the onion, capsicum, garlic, shallot and chilli finely.  
2. Skin tomatoes, then blend them all together in a blender.*
3. Place half the oil and half the margarine/butter in each pan.  Continue to cook half and half in each of the pans. Saute the onion without browning for 3 minutes, stir in capsicum with chilli and cook a further 3 minutes, stir in shallot and garlic for 1 minute, stir in blended tomatoes, tomato paste and cumin.  Turn the heat down if cooking too fast, we don’t want it to brown at any stage.
4. Cook down till the mixture is no longer runny, stirring often.  This is a leisurely stage.  When you push a wooden spoon through the mixture it stays separate it is time for the next stage.
5. Keeping the pan on the heat, crack the eggs into tomato mixture, breaking the yolks with a fork as they enter the pan.  Turn the heat up a little to keep the mixture bubbling.  
6. As the eggs start setting fold them through the tomato mixture with the fork.  They should retain their own character and not be consumed by the tomato.
7. When the eggs are cooked to your taste – they can be as runny or as firm as you like – add salt and pepper and serve in the pan.

* To skin tomatoes place them in a bowl and pour boiling water over.  Leave a few minutes. Spear with a fork at the base and peel skin off with a sharp knife.  Tomatoes can be grated or chopped finely if no blender is available.

Serve with crusty bread and individual bowls of dried chilli flakes (optional).

I look forward to many more Sunday Brunch Menemens.  My favourite taste of Turkey.

Do you make Menemen at home, or have you eaten it in Turkey?