Muhammara

Recipe for an oriental walnut-pepper dip

Spicy, aromatic and nutty, yet fruity, sweet and hot at the same time: If you like oriental spices and spreads like baba ganoush and hummus, you will certainly enjoy this Lebanese paprika-walnut dip Muhammara.

The name "Muhammara" comes from the Arabic word Ahmar, which means "red". The dip gets its red colour from the red pointed peppers, which are the main ingredient along with the walnuts.

Ingredients for 4 people:
2 red pointed peppers
100 g walnuts
1 whole garlic bulb
1 chilli
6 sprigs thyme
1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
pita bread to serve
Coarse sea salt to garnish

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 240°C. Quarter the pointed peppers after washing, remove the seeds and cut into rough pieces. Cut the garlic bulb in half horizontally so that the cloves do not fall apart. You do not need to peel the garlic.

Place the peppers, garlic and a whole chilli pepper in a baking dish and pour a generous amount of olive oil over everything. Sprinkle with salt and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Roughly chop some of the walnuts and put them on the side for garnish.

Remove the casserole dish from the oven and leave to cool slightly. Once the garlic is lukewarm, squeeze the garlic cloves one by one from their skins. Peel off the pepper skin with a knife.

Remove the stalk and seeds from the chilli.

Put the baked peppers, garlic cloves, the remaining walnuts, some of the thyme, the chilli, smoked paprika powder and the balsamic vinegar in a tall container and chop everything with a hand blender.

Process all the ingredients into a chunky paste and season with salt and pepper.

Spread the paprika-walnut dip on a large plate. Sprinkle the remaining thyme, the chopped walnuts and coarse sea salt on top.

Drizzle with olive oil and serve with warm pita bread.