Armenia: Manti, Vospov Kofte and Gata

Armenian “meat boats”, lentil and bulgar mash and a cinnamony rolled pastry.

Armenia had so many incredible options of dishes, so I had a really hard time choosing what to make. I kind of got in over my head and ended up making FOUR dishes (fortunately one was just a salad!), but it was really fun country to cook and I’m really happy with every thing I made!

For a main course, I made these fun little “meat boats” called Manti and they were SO good! Little dough squares were filled with a meat and herb mixture and cooked in tomato sauce, then topped with garlicky yogurt. So savory and delicious and the spice mixture was unlike anything I’d ever tasted before! The dish was definitely a little complicated- mainly because there were so many different components between the dough, meat mixture, tomato sauce and yogurt topping, but I absolutely think it was worth it!

As a side, I made Vospov Kofte, which is basically a red lentil and bulgar mash (sounds appetizing, right?), that’s usually accompanied by a fresh cucumber and tomato salad. It was actually surprisingly tasty and is something I would definitely make again since it was fairly easy to prepare, really good and quite filling! I also love that this is a vegan dish- I’m aways looking for new vegan and vegetarian recipes to mix things up a little, so this will have to go into the rotation!

For dessert, I made Gata and this may have been my favorite part, although honestly, I loved every part of this meal! The recipe for this vanilla and cinnamon sugar roll was a little time consuming since the dough needed to be prepped ahead, but it was still pretty easy to make using a food processor. Gata is made with a delicious sour cream dough, topped with a sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and flour mixture, then rolled, sliced and baked. It was sooooo good, especially straight out of the oven, all warm and sweet and buttery! Heaven! This is another one I would love to make again!

Hope you guys are enjoying following along! Up next we’re heading to the land down under!!