Stuffed Quince with Beef and Walnuts

This comes from Aksaray in central Anatolia, and it is the kind of dish that surprises people — quince treated as a savory vegetable, filled with beef and walnuts, finished with grape molasses.

Sweet and savory in the same bite. If you like regional Turkish cooking, this one belongs on your list.

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 medium quinces
9 oz ground beef
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 teaspoon per quince half
1 medium onion
6 teaspoons grape molasses (pekmez)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely crushed
Salt
Black pepper

Method

Peel the quinces, halve them, and scoop out the cores with a spoon. Leave the walls about 1/2 inch thick — any thinner and they collapse as they soften.

Rub the cut surfaces with lemon if you are not filling them straight away; quince browns fast.

Melt the 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a pan. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until it has browned and released its liquid.

Finely dice the onion and add it. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft.

Add the crushed walnuts, salt and pepper and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.

Take off the heat.

Pour about half an inch of water into a wide pan and arrange the quince halves in it, hollow side up.

Put a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of grape molasses into each hollow.

Fill with the beef mixture, mounding it slightly.

Cover and cook over medium-low heat until the quince is completely tender — 40 to 50 minutes depending on how ripe they were. Check the water level once or twice and top it up if the pan runs dry.

Test with a knife: it should slide in with no resistance. Underdone quince is hard and astringent, and no amount of filling makes up for it.

Serve warm, with dill scattered over if you like.

Chef’s note

A tablespoon of rice added to the filling is a common variation and gives the dish more body. If you use it, parboil the rice first — it will not cook through in the time the quince needs.