Mante: the Armenian Wonton

One of my all time favorite Armenian foods is Mante. It reminds me of my childhood, specifically because my sister and I would always help my mom with creating the "little boats." Typically, this traditional meal is prepared in a tomato broth and perfect for a cold winter night but we love it so much that we eat it by itself without the broth, or even with some garlic greek yogurt on top. The ingredients are simple but don't let that fool you, it is quite time consuming and a bit messy. 

Ingredients: 

1. Won Ton wrappers; found in the refrigerated section at any market {Armenian mothers and grandmas will usually make the dough from scratch, but this is a nice shortcut}
2. Ground turkey, although it can be made with ground beef as well. 
3. Half a large onion 
4. 4-5 cloves of garlic 
5. Salt and pepper 

Directions; remember this is a family recipe so shushhhh:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Finely chop your onion and mash the garlic and place in a bowl. Add the raw meat and add just enough salt/pepper for taste; roughly a heaping teaspoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of pepper. Remember, you can always add salt at the end but you can never take it out! 
3. Cut your won ton wrappers into quarters, roughly 2 by 2.
4. Place the won ton wrappers in a large non-stick area and roll a bit of meat into a tiny ball and place them in the middle of the won tons.
5. Slightly wet your fingers so the dough doesn't stick, and diagonally dab across the dough from one corner to the next. Too much water will cause the won ton to tear. 
6. Fold the ends of the won ton up and gently press together and slightly push down so the base becomes flat and VOILA, you have your little boat!
7. Continue this until all the meat is gone and place on a cookie sheet. Add some non-stick spray so they don't stick to the foil.  
8. Place the Mante in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.
9. Let cool, but enjoy them warm.  The recipe for the tomato broth or greek yogurt can be found simply by Googleing it.  

Try it out and let us know what you think!

Finished product