Muhammara
One of my favorite chefs
I discovered Chef Yotam Ottolenghi a few years ago. I was such a fan that I created a Yotam Ottolenghi gift basket for my kids for Christmas! It was a fun project and gift.
One of my favorite recipes of his is Muhammara is a Middle Eastern dip or spread, made with roasted red peppers, walnuts, pomegranate molasses, and other spices.
I admit I changed Yotam’s recipe a bit. I skipped the bread crumbs and added fresh parsley.
Here is my photo, and his recipe. If you click on his link, you can see the difference between his photo and mine. We all put our own spin on recipes.
https://ottolenghi.co.uk/pages/recipes/muhammara
Muhammara
Serves 4 This classic Levantine dip can be made in a food processor, but it will lose some of its lovely texture; I'd use a pestle and mortar, if you can. Muhammara keeps well and even improves after a day in the fridge; just don't serve it fridge-cold.
Ingredients
3 red peppers
50g fresh breadcrumbs
½ tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp aleppo chilli flakes
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
50g walnuts, nely chopped by hand
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
salt to taste
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6.
Put the peppers on a tray and roast for 30-35 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are cooked and the skin is blackened. Put the peppers in a bowl, cover with cling-lm and, once cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skin and seeds. Pat the peppers dry, and place in a mortar.
Add the breadcrumbs, lemon juice, molasses, cumin, chilli and garlic. Work this with a pestle until well combined, but not so much that the peppers no longer have a noticeable texture.
Stir through the walnuts, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and the olive oil. Add more pomegranate molasses and salt to taste – you want the flavours to be pretty intense. Spoon the dip into a shallow bowl, using the back of a spoon to give it a wavy texture, and drizzle with a little olive oil. Serve at room temperature.