Muhammara

If you haven’t tried this wonderful red-pepper based dip yet, drop whatever you’re doing and cook it. In all seriousness, this is the sweet and nutty cousin to hummus. Adapted from Ottolenghi via Masterclass.

Ingredients

• 5 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and quartered
• 1 white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 plum tomatoes, stems removed and quartered
• 5 T olive oil
• 1.5 T tomato paste
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 t ground coriander
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 T pomegranate molasses
• 100 g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. On a parchment-lined baking tray, toss peppers, onion, and tomatoes with 3 T oil, 1/2 t salt, and plenty of black pepper. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the tray from the oven and mix in the garlic cloves. Roast for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are softened and light charred. (Note: charring is good, it will add flavor.)
4. Once they’re cool enough to handle, peel and discard the tomato and pepper skins (don’t worry if you can’t remove it all).
5. Add the peeled roasted vegetables, tomatoes paste, ground spices, 1 T pomegranate molasses, 1/2 t salt, and a good grind of pepper to a food processor. Pulse into a coarse paste, leaving the mixture slightly chunky.
6. Add the walnuts and pulse just enough to roughly blitz (you want the mixture to still have some texture). Stir in the pomegranate seeds.
7. To serve, transfer the muhammara to a serving plate or bowl, and garnish with chopped parsley, pomegranate seeds, and olive oil.