Vegan Turkish mince with hummus and spiced butter

My dislike of breakfast has been well documented, but when I lived in Sydney I would go to this one place religiously to eat this dish, yes, at breakfast. I don’t remember the name of the place, and sadly it has since closed, but the memory of their delicious Middle Eastern dish lives on in this cracking recipe.

Credit: Hardie Grant Books / Nikki To

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 400 g (14 oz) veggie mince or soaked textured vegetable protein
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp dried mint
• 1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated purée)
• 2 tbsp harissa
• 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) ‘beef’ or vegetable stock (see Note)
• juice ½ lemon
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (optional)
• 1 handful flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves, chopped, plus extra to garnish
• 1 handful dill, chopped
• Hummus, to serve (see recipe here)
• 1 handful toasted pine nuts, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or almonds
• mint, to garnish

Spiced butter

• 80 g (2¾ oz) ghee or butter (see Note)
• 1 tbsp baharat
• ½ tsp grated ginger
• ½ tsp salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then add the mince and toss to combine. Stir in the spices, dried mint and sugar, then add the tomato paste and harissa and stir to combine.

2. Mix through the stock and cook until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. Finish with the lemon juice and pomegranate molasses (if using), followed by the chopped herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. To make the spiced butter, melt the ghee in a small saucepan or frying pan over medium heat. Add the baharat, ginger and salt and cook for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Spoon over the Turkish mince.

4. To serve, spread some hummus onto a plate, then pile the mince on top. Garnish with the nuts or seeds and herbs.

Note

• This recipe is from a vegan cookbook. All references to non-vegan ingredients - stock, butter etc – refer to vegan versions of these ingredients.

Recipe and images from Vegan with Bite by Shannon Martinez (Hardie Grant Books, $34.99). Photography: © Nikki To

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.