How do I love thee Muhammara?

By Kitchen Butterfly • August 27, 2010 • 6 Comments

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How do I love thee Muhammara? — 1 of 4 Photo by Kitchen Butterfly

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Author Notes: I tasted this first at a food bloggers conference in London and I was SOLD. Roasted red peppers, blitzed with toast and spiced with the usual levant suspects - pom molasses, cumin and aleppo pepper. Make a lot, you won't regret it! To blacken the peppers, I skewer them with fondue forks and use those as the handle to cook them on my stove top - sometimes tricky because some peppers refuse to stay poked! To peel them after the perfunctory bagging, I start from the bottom end and keep a small knife handy to help scrape off tough bits. Whatever you do, DO NOT RINSE THE PEPPERS (sorry I screamed. I had to stress the importance of not wetting them!) - you'll strip them of flavour.....I use almonds because I love almonds but the one I had in London was made with a combo of walnuts and cashew nuts. Make your choice - Kitchen Butterfly

Serves 1 & 1/2 cups

2 slices of wholegrain bread (~ 70g), toasted
80g flaked, raw almonds
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dry roasted cumin seeds
2 cloves of (roasted/smoked) garlic (smashed)
2 red paprikas (bell peppers), blackened, skinned and insides removed - veins and seeds
20ml (1 1/2 tablespoons) pomegranate molasses or blackcurrant cordial, extra to drizzle on top
20ml olive oil
2/3 squirts of juice from a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Add the dry ingredients (bread, almonds, paprika, pepper and cumin seeds), followed by the garlic and cooked red peppers
Blitz, stopping at regular intervals till well combined. Scrapes sides down & in and add the liquids
Blitz again till well combined and taste - adjust sweetness by adding more molasses or sourness with a touch more lemon juice. Salt to taste and drizzle some pom molasses to serve
Use as a dip, a spread, in place of pizza sauce or add some stock and a touch of yogurt to make a spicy soup.