Turkish Recipes: Mantar Dolması - Perfect For The Barbecue

Of course, we're still enjoying barbecue weather here in Fethiye - and expect to be doing so for a good while yet - and we hope you've got barbecue weather, too, wherever you are. If not, these mushrooms taste perfectly good, baked or grilled indoors, too. Occasionally, we do get friends coming to visit us who are vegetarian, so apart from attempting to impress them with our summer meze dishes, it's good to be able to cater for them from the barbecue, too. 

A Turkish Recipe For Mantar Dolması
So what are we making? Mushrooms stuffed with cheese - completely simple but always tastes better than you remember. We first saw this dish when we started going to Cin Bal in Kayaköy and we've been making our own version - with little additions, as usual - ever since.

Mushrooms with the stems removed

First of all you need to buy the biggest field mushrooms you can  get your hands on and make sure they're plump and fresh.

• Wash the mushrooms and allow to dry.


• Now carefully remove the stems by twisting them slowly. If the mushrooms are fresh, the stem should come out easily.


• Put your mushroom cups to one side and chop some of the stems up into small pieces.

Your stuffed mushroom mixture

Now we're going to make the filling and you can be as creative as you like here. First of all though, so as not waste the mushroom stems, add them to a bowl as part of your filling.

• Grate a handful of cheese and add that to your bowl. Traditionally, kaşar cheese is used in mantar dolması but we prefer Izmir tulum of the strong variety.


• Sprinkle in a generous amount of chilli flakes (if you like spicy) and grate a clove of garlic into the mixture.


• As you can see in the photo above, we're not done yet. This is not usual for this recipe, but we also like to finely chop a handful of sucuk (a spicy beef sausage) and add that to the mixture. Obviously, this addition is reserved for when our vegeatarian friends are not eating with us! 

Stuffed mushrooms - pre barbecue

Now all you need to do is give all your ingredients a good mix in the bowl and then, using a teaspoon, fill your mushroom cups with the mixture. You can pack them quite tightly; there's nothing too intricate about this recipe.

Cheese-stuffed mushrooms

While your barbecue is still too hot to start cooking the meat, you can place the mushrooms on there and, within minutes, you'll have a yummy spicy, cheesy, mushroomy snack to keep your guests entertained while they wait for the meatier side of things. That's it. Simple but effective. 

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