Ezme

Name: Ezme
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 29 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 3 Large Tomato; 1 medium Romano Pepper; 1 medium Green Chilli; 1 small Onion; 2 cloves minced Garlic; 25g Parsley; 2 tablespoons Red Pepper Paste; 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree; 2 tablespoons Pomegranate Molasses; 1 tablespoon Pul Biber; 2 tsp Sumac; 1 tablespoon Dried Mint; 60 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Vegetarian recipe with Turkish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 46 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 29 min total

3 Large Tomato
1 medium Romano Pepper
1 medium Green Chilli
1 small Onion
2 cloves minced Garlic
25g Parsley
2 tablespoons Red Pepper Paste
1 tablespoon Tomato Puree
2 tablespoons Pomegranate Molasses
1 tablespoon Pul Biber
2 tsp Sumac
1 tablespoon Dried Mint
60 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Step-by-step instructions

step 1.
Put the tomatoes and all of the peppers in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Tip out into a sieve, set over a bowl and leave to strain. Add the onions, garlic and parsley to the food processor and blitz until finely chopped, then set aside.
step 2.
Add red pepper paste, tomato purée, pomegranate molasses, pul biber, sumac, dried mint and most of the extra virgin olive oil to a serving bowl and whisk well so everything comes together as a sauce. Tip in the blitzed onion mixture and the strained pepper mixture along with 1 tsp flaky sea salt . Stir well, then drizzle with the remaining extra virgin olive oil to serve.

Why this works on a weeknight

Ezme genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Ezme actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Vegetarian Turkish ⚡ 30-Min Dinner