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turkish breakfast on a platter

Turkish breakfast

  • Author: Amélie
  • Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Stove
  • Cuisine: Turkish

Description

It’s not a Turkish breakfast unless you run out of place to put down serving dishes on the table! Here are some of my favorite traditional breakfast dips & spreads to help you do just that. 


Ingredients

Scale

For the sausage dip (kahvaltılık sosis):

  • 4 medium-sized sausages
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 2 onions, peeled
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 heaped tbsp mild red pepper paste (tatli biber salçasi), or use tomato paste
  • 115ml water (½ cup), just boiled
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ⅓ tsp black pepper
  • ⅓ tsp chili powder (kirmizi biber)


For the breakfast spread
(çemen):

  • 6 sprigs of parsley, leaves only
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 90g walnut halves (1 cup)
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 3 tbsp mild red pepper paste (tatli biber salçasi), or use an equal amount of tomato paste
  • ½ tsp red chili flakes (pul biber)
  • 1 tsp dried mint
  • 1 tsp dried thyme (kekik)
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp nigella seeds

 

For the salad dip (kaşık salatası):

  • 1 long green pepper
  • ½ long cucumber, peeled
  • 3 tomatoes, peeled
  • 12 sprigs of parsley, leaves only
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ⅔ tsp dried mint
  • ⅔ tsp sumac, or use lemon zest
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses  (nar ekşisi)
  • 3 tbsp olive oil

 

For the Turkish clotted cream and honey (bal kaymak):

  • 6 tbsp of runny honey
  • 2 tbsp of kaymak, heaped (use clotted cream or mascarpone if you’re not in Turkey)

Instructions

For the sausage dip (kahvaltılık sosis):

  1. Cut the sausages into 3cm (1 in) slices and set aside. Grate the tomatoes using the largest shredding holes of a cheese grater, or blitz them in a food processor, and set aside. Finely chop the garlic and set aside. Finely chop the onions.
  2. Heat the oil in a deep non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions along with a pinch of salt. Cook for 7 min until translucent, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the sausages. Cook for 5 min.
  3. Add the chopped garlic, red pepper (or tomato)  paste and spread it all over the sausages using the back of the spoon. Cook for 2 min. Stir in the grated tomatoes, water and spices. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 min. There should be some liquid at the end so if it looks too dry to be a dip, add a bit more water at the end. Pour the sausage dip into a serving bowl.

sausage dip cooking in pan

 

For the breakfast spread (çemen):

  1. Finely chop the parsley and set aside. Place the garlic and salt into a mortar, pound into a paste and set aside. Finely chop the walnuts.
  2. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and toast the walnuts until they become fragrant and start to brown, stirring from time to time. It should take about 3 min. Keep an eye on them, if they burn you won’t be able to get rid of the bitter taste. Pour them on a plate and heat the oil in the pan.
  3. Add the pastes and cook, mixing continuously, with a wooden spoon for 2 min. Take the pan off the heat and add the pounded garlic, spices, seeds and walnuts. Stir until everything is well combined. Put the çemen onto a plate and let it cool down completely.

breakfast spread ingredients

 

For the salad dip (kaşık salatası): 

  1. Deseed the green pepper, cucumber and tomatoes. Finely chop the vegetables and parsley leaves. Put them into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the spices, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, olive oil and mix until combined.
  2. Pour just enough cold water to cover everything up and make the kaşık salatası ‘spoonable’. I used 115ml (½ cup). Kaşık salatası is supposed to be refreshing so keep the salad dip in the fridge until it’s time to serve. 

salad dip in a container


For the Turkish clotted cream and honey
(bal kaymak):

  1. Pour the honey into a serving dish, save for 1 tbsp. Spoon the kaymak (or whatever you could get your hands on) on top of the honey. Drizzle the rest of the honey on top of the kaymak. Done! 

turkish clotted cream and honey on a plate



Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 plate
  • Calories: 863

Keywords: brunch, international brunch, international breakfast, breakfast ideas