Simit: Sesame-Encrusted Turkish Bread Rings

Özlem Warren · Sebze

Make Özlem Warren's Turkish bean salad recipe with fresh herbs, olives and a nutty tahini sauce for a delicious lunch or side.

Özlem Warren · Sebze: Vegetarian Recipes From My Turkish Kitchen

I adore simit and it really is the most quintessential Turkish snack. You can have simit for breakfast with a cup of çay (Turkish tea), sliced cucumber, tomatoes, beyaz peynir (our feta) and olives, or you can enjoy them for a mid-morning or afternoon snack. Turks mostly prefer savoury accompaniments to simit, although I must say it is also lovely with some butter and jam. Simit has always been so widely available that no one really attempted to make it at home, especially while I was growing up. Moving abroad in my late twenties, I greatly missed simit and was delighted to come across dear Leanne Kitchen’s recipe in her beautiful book, Turkey: Recipes and Tales From the Road. I have adapted Leanne’s simit recipe and have been making simit successfully thanks to her for over 13 years. Each time it brings a huge dose of home and joy back to me. It really is easy to make once you get the hang of the shaping — a popular one at my cookery classes.

Özlem Warren · İstanbul

We love pancar (beetroot) and great big bunches of it can be found in our pazar (farmers’ markets) in İstanbul. The modern eateries and cafés of the city also serve it in salads, usually cooked and then dressed in oil and vinegar, but sometimes grated and mixed with yoghurt too. Inspired by this, I combined cooked beetroot with briny green olives and crunchy, toasted hazelnuts, ingredients that bring layers of flavour and texture to this easy meze. The nar ekşisi (pomegranate molasses) in the dressing adds a natural sweet-and-sourness that goes well with the beetroot, complementing both the cooling yoghurt and the heat of the pul biber oil. You can replace the hazelnuts with your choice of nuts, if you wish.

Özlem Warren · Istanbul

Try a classic Turkish dish with Özlem Warren's cheat recipe for manti, featuring a tomato meat sauce over pasta with yogurt and spiced oil.

Özlem Warren · Istanbul

Özlem Warren's recipe for Turkish döner kebabs features tender sliced meat and hot tomato and butter sauce over flatbread.

Özlem Warren · Istanbul

In this recipe by Özlem Warren, tuna steaks are cooked with potatoes and olives in a delicious lemon sauce to make a classic Turkish dinner.