Menemen and mint cream

Ecaterina Paraschiv shares her recipe for this popular Turkish breakfast. Serve with rustic bread to scoop up the scrambled eggs in a tomato and capsicum sauce, topped with mint cream.

Menemen and mint cream. Credit: Smith Street Books / Émilie Franzo

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 50 ml (1¾ fl oz) olive oil
• 10 kapia capsicum (peppers), or other small, sweet red capsicum
• 3 onions, finely sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) tinned finely chopped tomatoes
• 150 g (5½ oz) cherry tomatoes
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp baharat, Espelette chilli powder or chilli powder
• 5 thyme sprigs
• 5 bay leaves
• 12 eggs
• 100 ml (31/2 fl oz) milk
• 3 leeks, finely sliced
• 3 tsp butter
• shredded mint, to garnish
• rustic bread, to serve (optional; omit to keep recipe gluten-free)

Mint cream

• ½ bunch of mint, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• 250 ml (1 cup) cream (35% fat)
• squeeze of lemon juice
• pinch of fine salt

Standing time: 30 minutes.

Instructions

1. Heat a drizzle of the olive oil in a chargrill pan over high heat. Grill seven of the peppers, turning often, for 8–10 minutes, or until their skins are charred all over. Place them in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. Once cooled, peel off their skins, roughly chop the flesh and set aside.
2. Dice the remaining three peppers. Heat another drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat, then fry the chopped pepper and onion for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and grilled pepper, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the cherry tomatoes, cumin, salt, pepper, baharat, thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Let the sauce reduce over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the thyme and bay leaves, set mixture aside and keep warm.
5. Place the mint cream ingredients in a food processor and blend until the cream is thick and fluffy.
6. When ready to serve, crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk vigorously. Add the milk, season with salt and pepper and whisk until combined.
7. Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and saute the leek for 3–5 minutes until translucent. Pour in the egg. When the bottom begins to cook, stir the eggs with a spatula, always pushing in the same direction, until the eggs are cooked but still creamy. Finish by mixing in the butter.
8. Serve the scrambled eggs in the tomato and pepper sauce, topped with the mint cream and garnished with shredded mint. Enjoy with rustic bread on the side, if desired.

Recipe and image from Ibrik: The Balkan Table by Ecaterina Paraschiv (Smith Street Books). Photographry by Émilie Franzo.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.