Ingredients

800g of meat (lamb, beef or chicken); 2 tbsp of olive oil (if cooking meat in the wood fired oven); For the tomato sauce: 2 tbsp of butter or olive oil, 1/4 cup of tomato paste, 1 cup of finely mashed fresh tomatoe without skin, 1 cup of water, salt and black pepper to taste; For serving: 3-4 pide breads (freshly cooked in the oven), 1/2 cup of melted butter, 1.5 cups of yogurt and optional long-green fresh pepper, 2-3 tbs of bulgur pilaf.

Preparation and Cooking

• If using pre-cooked meat as doner/yiros, skip to step 4.
• If cooking meat in the wood fired oven, thinly slice the lamb, beef, or chicken into approximately 3mm thick slices. Then in a skillet or grill pan, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 10-15 min and rest it in Area F to keep warm until assembling.
• To prepare the tomato sauce, melt and heat the butter (or olive oil) in a saucepan and add the tomato paste and cook for about 1-2 min. Then add mashed fresh tomatoe, water, salt, and black pepper, and simmer it for about 10-15 min until slightly thickened.
• Before assembling the Iskender Kebab, cook and get ready a pide bread as bite size pieces for the base of the serving plate.
• Then place the cooked meat slices (or doner/yiros meat) on top of the pide bread, and pour the hot tomato sauce over the meat and pita bread. Finally, generaously drizzle the melted butter over the top of the meat.
• Although the Iskender Kebab is now ready to serve hot, a table spoon of yogurt is often served with it.

Hints and Comments

• Iskender Kebab is a classic Turkish dish originating from Bursa in northwest Türkiye.
• Nowadays, there are regional and personal variations, in which additional herbs, spices, or other toppings and side dishes on the same serving plate are used including bulgur pilaf, grilled tomato and long-red pepper (sweet or hot).