A recipe for Macaroon bil Toum (Lebanese Homemade Pasta with Garlic Sauce)! These chewy handmade little dumplings are tossed in a garlic lemon sauce.
Macaroon Bil Toum (معكرون بتوم, Maacaron bi Toum, Macaron/Ma3kroun bi Toom) is a rustic dish found in the mountain villages of Lebanon.
I first came across the recipe over on Eva’s Lebanese Cooking and it is such a fantastic meal for garlic and homemade pasta lovers. It is also naturally vegan with a dough made simply of flour, salt, and water.
Little pieces of the rolled dough are boiled until soft and tender, then coated in a lemon garlic sauce called Toum before serving immediately.
Making the pasta:
The pasta reminded me a bit of the dumplings in Oman used to make Dhokri, a Lawati Lamb and Dumpling Soup.
To form the dumplings, a basic flour and water dough is brought together and kneaded until smooth.
If too dry and crumbly, slowly add a little more water. If too sticky to handle, slowly add a little more flour. Cover and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before shaping.
Pieces are broken off and rolled into long thin ropes, then the ropes are cut into 1 inch (2.5 centimeter) individual slices.
Use three fingers to roll each each dumpling over to form little grooves and a space in the middle. This helps the dumplings cook evenly while keeping their tender texture and creates little nooks and crannies to hold the sauce.
For even more texture, roll the pieces over the small holes of a colander.
Boil the pasta until tender, a couple of minutes after they rise to the surface. This should take around 15 minutes total.
A Few Tips:
Use a slotted spoon to remove the tender dumplings from the water and immediately toss with the garlic sauce. Do not drain and rinse.
Letting the hot dumplings sit in the sauce for a few minutes before serving allows the garlic to heat for a bit and remove some of the strength.
The starch from the noodles will also thicken the sauce a little as you toss them together.
I have come across a few different variations for this dish. Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen includes cubed potatoes.
Adjust the amount of olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste.
If desired, sprinkle a little dried mint and freshly ground black pepper over the top immediately before serving.
Looking for more Lebanese recipes?
Try my:
- Batata Wa Bayd (Lebanese Potatoes and Eggs)
- Aynar (Lebanese Spiced Tea)
- Fatayer bi Sabanekh (Lebanese Spinach Pies)
This recipe was originally posted in November 2017 and updated in March 2023.
Macaroon Bil Toum (Lebanese Homemade Pasta with Garlic Sauce) Recipe
Adapted from Eva’s Lebanese Cooking
Macaroon Bil Toum (Lebanese Homemade Pasta with Garlic Sauce)
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (177 milliliters) lukewarm water
Garlic Sauce:
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 cup (80 milliliters) olive oil
- Dried mint optional, for serving
- Black pepper optional, for serving
Instructions
To make the pasta dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.
- Slowly pour in the water to form a dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead until soft and smooth. Add a little more water if too crumbly or a little more flour if too sticky to handle.
- Cover with a towel or wrap in plastic and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
To make the garlic sauce:
- In a mortar and pestle or blender, mash together or blend the garlic cloves with the salt. Mix in the lemon juice until well combined.
- Slowly add the olive oil while blending until smooth and creamy.
To assemble:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- On a floured surface, pull off 1/4 of the dough and roll it into a 1/2 inch (1.25 centimeter) thick rope.
- Slice the rope into 1 inch (2.5 centimeter) long pieces.
- Push three fingers into the center of a cut piece of dough and gently pull the dumpling towards you to roll it. For a little texture, roll the piece over the back of the small holes of a colander. Place on the parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
- Reduce the boiling water to medium high and add the dumplings in batches, being careful not to overcrowd. Stir to keep any dumplings from sticking to the bottom.
- Once they rise to the top, cook for a couple minutes longer, until tender, about 15 minutes total. Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat with remaining dumplings.
- Toss the cooked, hot dumplings with the garlic lemon sauce until coated and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- If desired, top with a little dried mint and black pepper.
linda spiker
I have never seen these before. They sound amazing! Anything garlic….
Julia
This dish reminds me of Slovakian dumplings. The method is different but still looking quite similar. We serve it with special kind of a cheese and bacon 🙂
Tara
I have a version of those covered too! https://tarasmulticulturaltable.com/bryndzove-halusky-slovak-potato-dumplings-with-sheep-cheese/
Sarah
Cool, this is a new dish to me! But anything creamy and garlicy is a winner to me 😀
Liz Cleland
Ive never made pasta but I want to learn how someday soon!
Traci @ The Kitchen Girl
Looks delicious…and EASY! I need to try this recipe for sure…I’m a complete noodle addict, but who isn’t?! 😉 Thanks for sharing!
Ben Myhre
I know it is not exactly the same, but these dumplings remind me of Knoephla soup. A dumpling recipe, but it is served in a creamy, buttery chicken broth. I have such fond memories of making this with my Grandmother. I have yet to make it this year.
Tara
I will have to try Knoephla Soup sometime 🙂
cakespy
This looks absolutely delicious, and I love the texture on these dumplings. Thanks for introducing me to a new recipe that is bound to become a favorite!
Tara
Thanks everyone!
Lauren
Sounds easy enough!
Greg
My Family makes these every year for Ash Wednesday and it is made pretty much the same way that you described I have asked many Mediterranean restaurants in my travels and no one had ever heard of it boy are they missing out on such a simple and delicious dish
Tara
Hi Greg! This is definitely one of my favorites!
Lisa
My mom used to make it all the time and I learned from her. She learned it from my dad’s mother and his aunts, who would make to feed their 5 families during hard times during War World II. My grandmother would use garlic salt instead of cloves because she get any fresh.
Monica
Thank you for posting this recipe. It aligns perfectly with the way my grandmother (“Sitto” in Lebanese) used to make macaroon a toum. She had emigrated to Vermont from the Catholic village of Hadeth el Jibbe in the mountains of Lebanon in 1900.
Since we Catholics were forbidden to eat meat on Fridays back in the day, this dish became one of the Friday treats. My mother added a teaspoon of baking powder to the dough recipe to fluff it up a bit. A variation on the configuration of the segments of the “rope” can be to take each segment and roll it between the palms of your hands until the ends taper off, kind of like a boat shape with a circular solid middle. Then drop these little “boats” into the boiling water.
Katherine
The Lebanese side of my family makes this every year. Always a huge batch and everyone gets together to roll the dough. We use the little ribbed pasta paddles to put groves in the dumpling when rolling it out. Not so much lemon for us, but lots of garlic, oil, and salt. No recipe just always by “eye”. It doesn’t reheat well so usually needs to be eaten right away. Always brings back such good memories!
Wanda
I’ve never heard of these before – they look delicious! What would you serve them with?!
Monica
Wanda, it was served alone as the main dish on Fridays when we Catholics could not eat meat. The dish is quite filling. Feel free to choose any vegetable or fruit to accompany the dish if you wish.