Ingredients

500 g of mushrooms (button or cremini work well); 2 tbsp of olive oil; 1 onion (finely chopped); 2 cloves of garlic (minced); 1 green bell pepper (diced); 2 tomatoes (peeled and chopped); 1 tsp of salt; 1/2 tsp of black pepper; 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes (optional); 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese or shredded kaşar or mozzarella cheese (optional); fresh parsley for garnish.

Preparation and Cooking

• Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth and slice them.
• In a shallow clay pot (clay-tray, shallow clay pot) ) using olive oil, sauté the chopped onion, minced garlic and diced green bell pepper until they turn translucent for about 5-10 min. Then add the sliced mushrooms stir and cook for another 5-10 min or until the mushrooms release their water. Then add the chopped tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using) and stir well and cook another 10-15 min.
• The simmering and cooking processes can be performed at 150-190^oC in the wood fired.
• If cheese is preferred, sprinkle it over the top of the dish few minutes before removing the clay-tray, until the cheese melts.

• Garnish with fresh parsley before serving. This dish is traditionally served with rice and or fresh loaf or pide bread freshly cooked in the wood fired oven.

Hints and Comments

• Note that “kiremit” means “roof tile” in Turkish. However, in cooking it refers to a shallow clay pot (clay-tray) without a lid (as illustrated in Chapter 8, Fig1h). Note that if such a clay pot is not available, a regular pot or skillet will also work.
• In alternative versions of this dish, mushrooms can be replaced with alternative ingredients, hence the following beloved and well-known Turkish delicacies can be created, including: Using lamb meat cuting them into small cubes (Kiremitte Kuzu), using “sucuk” (Kiremitte Sucuk), using anchovies (Kiremitte Hamsi), using chicken and butter without cheese (Kiremitte Tavuk Yagda) and using chopped fresh tomatoes and eggs without cheese (Menemen).