Muhammara (red pepper and walnut dip)
A beautifully simple but richly flavoured Middle Eastern dip or spread. With roasted red peppers, walnuts, and breadcrumbs, it has a lightly smoky, spicy, sweet and sour tanginess. Delicious served on its own with bread and/or raw veggies, or serve as part of a mezze feast.
It's recommended that you read the accompanying blog post before starting the recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 roasted red peppers (see Recipe Notes)
- 100 g walnuts
- 50 g breadcrumbs (fresh or panko)
- 2 large cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp/15 ml pomegranate molasses (see Recipe Notes)
- 1 rounded tsp Aleppo pepper (or mild chilli flakes)
- 1 rounded tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp/30 ml extra virgin olive oil
Garnishes
- pomegranate molasses
- extra virgin olive oil
- walnuts (finely chopped)
- Aleppo pepper or chilli flakes
- mint, parsley or coriander leaves (finely chopped)
Instructions
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Roughly chop the roasted peppers and put in the bowl of a food processor or suitable container if using an immersion/stick blender.
Add the walnuts, breadcrumbs, garlic, pomegranate molasses, Aleppo pepper or chilli flakes, ground cumin, plus ¼ tsp each of salt and pepper.
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Process until the ingredients are your preferred texture: more time for a creamy, smooth texture, less if you want it chunkier.
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Add the extra virgin olive oil and briefly blend to combine.
Taste and add more of any flavouring if you think it needs it.
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Transfer to a serving bowl and use the back of a spoon to make a deep swirl on top.
Drizzle over more pomegranate molasses and olive oil then sprinkle with chopped walnuts, Aleppo pepper, and the chopped herb.
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Serve at room temperature with bread and/or vegetables for dipping or spreading, or as part of a mezze meal with other dishes.
Can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bring back to room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
Roasted red peppers. For convenience, I use jarred roasted peppers for this recipe. If you prefer to roast your own you can do this either under a grill at its highest setting, turning often, or in a very hot oven, turning a few times. When the peppers are lightly charred all over, transfer to a heatproof bowl, cover with a plate or similar and leave until cold. Discard the core, seeds and skin.
Pomegranate molasses. Adds a delicious sweet and sour flavour. Now widely available or can be bought online here (paid link). If you don't have it, use lemon juice and another sweetener (e.g. honey or date syrup) to taste.