Muhammara: Lebanese Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip

What muhammara is

Muhammara is the deep red dip that sits next to hummus on a Levantine mezze table. Toasted walnuts and fried bread are ground fine, then bound with red pepper paste, tahini, pomegranate molasses and olive oil. The result is sweet, sour, nutty and a little hot, all at once, and it keeps for days, only getting better as it sits.

Quick facts

• Makes: about 4 cups
• Prep: 20 minutes
• Cooking: none beyond toasting the walnuts and frying the bread

Ingredients

• Walnuts, toasted, then crushed in a food processor (amount not specified in the source recipe)
• 1 loaf Lebanese bread, fried, then crushed in a food processor
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses
• Red bell pepper paste (amount not specified in the source recipe)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Aleppo pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp fleur de sel
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper, optional

To garnish: olive oil, crushed walnuts, parsley
To serve: Lebanese bread

Method

1. Toast the walnuts. Toast them dry in a pan over low heat until fragrant, then set aside.
2. Fry the bread. In the same pan, add enough oil to coat the bottom and fry the Lebanese bread in large chunks until crisp. Set aside.
3. Crush. Crush the walnuts in a food processor until fine, then crush the bread the same way.
4. Mix and serve. Combine the walnuts, bread and everything else in a bowl and mix until it comes together as a thick, spreadable paste. Plate it, spread it out with the back of a spoon, garnish with olive oil, crushed walnuts and parsley, and serve with Lebanese bread.

Tips for getting it right

• Leave some texture. Muhammara should have a little grit from the walnuts, not the smoothness of hummus. Pulse the food processor rather than running it continuously.
• Taste before the cayenne. Aleppo pepper brings warmth on its own, so add cayenne only if you want real heat.
• Thin it if needed. A splash of water loosens it if it's stiffer than you like. It firms up again in the fridge.
• Storage. Keeps a week in a sealed container in the fridge. Bring to room temperature and re-drizzle with olive oil before serving.

The spices behind it

Two ingredients do a lot of the work here: Aleppo pepper for a gentle heat with a fruity note under the sweetness, and fleur de sel to season cleanly so the dip doesn't taste flat.