Tomato Soup and Turkish Cheese Pancake..

Cooking Instructions

For soup:

In a soup pot, bring 1 Tablespoon olive oil to high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic. Simmer until tomatoes are soft and tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and puree with crème fraiche. Push through a medium sieve to remove seeds and skins. Place back into pot to reheat. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve, keeping warm.

For pancakes:

In a small skillet, melt 1 Tablespoon butter over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until onion is soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Set aside and cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine cheeses, cooled onion and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. If using tortillas, cut each in half. If using thick phyllo, brush each piece with a little oil and fold in half. Place 1/4 cup of cheese mixture in the centers and fold over like an envelope. (They should look like a quarter of a pie.) Pinch the edges of the pancakes shut, using a little water to seal the edges of the phyllo. Tortillas may be too thick to stay pinched shut, so don't worry if they don't keep a seal.

Heat 1 Tablespoon butter on a griddle or frying pan. When butter starts to brown, place pancakes in pan and cook until golden and a little puffy, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a platter. Do pancakes in 2 batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pan.

Ladle tomato soup into 4 heated bowls, drizzling each with extra-virgin olive oil. Serve soup with platter of Turkish pancakes immediately. If you have it, pass the za'atar at the table for sprinkling.

Round Out the Meal:

With a mesclun salad tossed with chickpeas and a lemon-tahini dressing