Turkish Style Leek & 30 Minutes Meal

I made 30 minutes meal in this episode. Beginning with a traditional tarhana soup, leek dish with ground beef, and whole wheat spaghetti with tomato paste sauce. As a side dish I take out pickled cabbage that I made before and as a dessert 2 ingredient fig pudding which is a traditional dessert we call “incir uyutması” in Turkish.

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 200gr. Ground beef or more
• 1 onion (optional – I didn’t add this time as someone suggested but I usually do:)
• 400 – 500gr. Leeks (most of the green part left out after scaled)
• 1 carrot (optional would suggest adding)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tbsp pepper paste
• 2 tbsp rice
• Salt, ground black pepper, and hot red pepper flakes to taste
• Enough hot water
• For the whole wheat spaghetti
• 500gr. Whole wheat spaghetti
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• Salt to taste
  
• The recipe for making tarhana from scratch is here: https://youtu.be/SkD09xJplBo. (it is in Turkish I will translate the ingredients first and the video as soon as I can) you can also buy ready ground tarhana from stores in Turkey and if they sell in Turkish shops in other countries. The recipe for 2 ingredient fig pudding is here: https://youtu.be/k6_wvjUwpus

How To Make Ground Meat Leek Dish

1. First, clean the top and bottom parts of the leeks and peel off one layer. Cut the leeks in 1 cm thickness.
2. Meantime in a wide big pan heat olive oil and brown the ground beef. You can skip adding the meat and make it vegan too. Also to make it extra tasty you can cut one onion and add it over the ground beef before the leeks.
3. After the meat is totally browned add tomato and red pepper pastes and continue to saute for about 2 minutes.
   
4. Add leeks and washed and drained rice, saute for 3-4 minutes. Season it with red pepper flakes, salt, and black peppers. Pour over about half a cup of hot water and close the lid. Cook with its steam for about 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes add more water until about halfway of the dish and continue to cook on low heat, lid close until veggies are soft. Let the dish rest for 20 minutes at least and enjoy!

Turn the dish into a complete menu in 30 minutes:

I made a complete menu with the meat leek dish in the video in 30 minutes by making:

1. Ancients Tarhana Soup
2. Whole wheat pasta with tomato paste
3. 2 ingredients Turkish fig dessert “Incir uyutmasi”
4. Also served homemade pickles

To make the whole wheat pasta with tomato paste simply boil the pasta in hot salty water according to package and drain keeping 1/2 cup from the pasta water. Cook tomato paste in butter and olive oil for 2 minutes and add the drained pasta and about 1/3 cup from the pasta sauce. Stir until well coated. Turn off the heat, serve warm after 10 minutes rest.