This red pepper dip is a spicy, smoky Syrian recipe, also known as muhammara, which is made from toasted walnuts, roasted red peppers, pomegranate molasses and breadcrumbs.
It has a smoky, sweet spiciness that will have you going back for taste after taste. It's perfect to enjoy with pita and other breads, to serve with grilled meat, fish or vegetables, or to include in a mezze platter.
As regular readers will know, I try to stick to ingredients that are readily available in a standard UK/US supermarket, but in this case I’d strongly recommend getting hold of Aleppo pepper, if you can.
It's a Syrian spice made by ripening and drying Halaby peppers to give gorgeously vibrant burgundy pepper flakes. It delivers a distinctive sweet heat that you won’t get from standard chilli flakes. That said, if you choose to use standard chilli flakes in this recipe, you’ll still get a delicious result.
Making this recipe is actually really easy - there's very little chopping or mixing to do. The trick is to take the time to toast your walnuts and roast your peppers to maximise the depth of flavour in your final dish before whizzing it all together.
Toasting the walnuts is as simple as popping them on a tray in a medium oven for 8 minutes, then allowing to cool. You'll then crank up the heat and roast your red bell peppers whole for 45 minutes until they are gratifyingly charred, making them easy to peel and deseed.
After that, it's simply a case of popping your slippery, smoky roasted pepper flesh and toasted walnuts into the blender along with olive oil, bread crumbs, tomato puree, Aleppo pepper, sumac and garlic and blitzing to richly delicious perfection.
Here's the full recipe for my red pepper dip. I'm convinced you'll love it just as much as I do!
Ingredients
- 100 g (¾ cups) walnuts
- 3 red peppers (approx 625g/22 oz whole weight)
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 50 g (2 oz) stale white bread
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 3 tbsp Aleppo pepper
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- Pinch salt
Equipment
- Medium roasting pan 35x25cm (14x10")
- Food processor or blender
Instructions
Toast the walnuts
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan).
Spread the walnuts on a sturdy baking tray.
Toast for 8 minutes.
Tip onto a plate to cool.
Roast the peppers
Turn the oven up to 220C (200C fan).
Wipe the baking tray, then rub the peppers all over with 1 tbsp olive oil and place on the baking sheet in the oven.
Roast for 45 minutes, turning with tongs every 15 minutes (careful - they will be very hot). When looking crinkled and charred, remove from the oven.
Place the peppers in a bowl, cover and leave for 5 minutes.
The steam will loosen the skin and you should now be able to peel the peppers and remove the seeds from the soft flesh.
Make the red pepper dip
Put the stale white bread in the bowl of your food processor.
Whizz until you have breadcrumbs.
Add the peppers, walnuts, olive oil, tomato puree, Aleppo pepper, pomegranate molasses, sumac, garlic and salt.
Blend briefly, then scrape down the sides and blend again until you have a thick dip. Some like their dip to have quite a lot of texture, while others prefer it smooth. The choice is yours!
To serve, simply spoon into a shallow bowl or onto a plate and swirl the back of a spoon around the surface of a dip in a spiral.
I like to dress mine with scattering of chopped walnut and parsley and a drizzle of olive oil and pomegranate molasses.
Print this recipe for red pepper dip
Red Pepper Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g (¾ cups) walnuts
- 3 red peppers (approx 625g/22 oz whole weight)
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 50 g (2 oz) stale white bread
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 3 tbsp Aleppo pepper
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- Pinch salt
Equipment
- Medium roasting pan 35x25cm (14x10")
- Food processor or blender
Instructions
Toast the walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan / 350F).
- Spread the walnuts on a sturdy baking tray and toast for 8 minutes.
- Tip onto a plate to cool.
Roast the peppers
- Turn the oven up to 220C (200C fan / 430F).
- Wipe the baking tray, then rub the peppers all over with 1 tbsp olive oil and place on the baking sheet in the oven.
- Roast for 45 minutes, turning with tongs every 15 minutes (careful - they will be very hot). When looking crinkled and charred, remove from the oven.
- Place the peppers in a bowl, cover and leave for 5 minutes.
- The steam will loosen the skin and you should now be able to peel the peppers and remove the seeds from the soft flesh.
Make the red pepper dip
- Put the stale white bread in the bowl of your food processor. Whizz until you have breadcrumbs.
- Add the peppers, walnuts, olive oil, tomato puree, Aleppo pepper, pomegranate molasses, sumac, garlic and salt.
- Blend briefly, then scrape down the sides and blend again until you have a thick dip. Some like their dip to have quite a lot of texture, while others prefer it smooth. The choice is yours!
- To serve, simply spoon into a shallow bowl or onto a plate and swirl the back of a spoon around the surface of a dip in a spiral.
- I like to dress mine with scattering of chopped walnut and parsley and a drizzle of olive oil and pomegranate molasses.
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