Shepherd's cheese in a flower shape, with walnuts and parsley on top. The way Manti are served in Sinop on the Black Sea — and the only one of our dumplings with egg in the dough.

The dough

Flour, water, salt and egg. Melted Heart is the only dish where egg goes into the dough; all our other Manti do without. Rolled out to the same 0.5–0.6 millimeters, then closed into a flower.

The filling

Shepherd's cheese and starch. Nothing else — no spice blend, because the cheese is savory enough. The starch keeps it inside the dumpling while cooking instead of leaking out.

What goes on top

Walnuts and parsley go on top, and that's no garnish: the walnut sets a hard point against the soft cheese, the parsley takes the richness out. That's how it's done in Sinop on the Black Sea, where Manti doesn't disappear under yogurt but comes to the table with walnuts and hot butter.

Yogurt and sauce don't belong here — the shepherd's cheese carries the dish on its own. If you want to follow the Sinop version all the way, pour hot melted butter over it: the butter runs into the folds of the flower and makes the walnuts more aromatic.

And if it should get heartier, sucuk is the one ingredient that really goes with cheese. Spicy against creamy — it works on pizza, and it works here.

Why this way

A tortellino is a ring, a Melted Heart a flower — related, but not the same. Both enclose cheese so it doesn't leak out while cooking, and both need egg in the dough for that.

In Sinop, Manti is deliberately made larger than in Kayseri and the dough rolled thinner. The idea behind it is the same as ours: you should feel the dough but taste the filling.

What goes with it

Which drink goes with cheese-filled Manti? Elephant Bay Lemonade Lemon 330 ml — the citric acid cuts through the creaminess and brings out the walnut. For something more bitter, Elephant Bay Lemonade Pink Grapefruit 330 ml.

AllergensCereals containing gluten (wheat), Egg, MilkWith optional extras: Nuts (walnuts)

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