Muhammara {Roasted Red Pepper Dip}

I discovered this dip when a bunch of us went out for lunch one Friday. We went to the Mediterranean restaurant in town that is SO good and one of my friends ordered a dip trio for lunch consisting of hummus, an olive tepanade and some lovely red stuff that I was soooo curious about. I asked her what it was and she couldn’t remember the name of it. We had to look on the menu to see what it was called. I wrote down the name and decided I MUST find a recipe for this stuff.

So thanks to the magic of the internet and Google, I found several recipes which I munged together (that’s a “technical”  term, LOL) with a few taste tests to come up with the best EVER version of Muhammara. I took some of this brilliant red dip to my friend’s house and everyone who tasted it kept asking “What IS this stuff? It is so good!” It’s a tantalizing mixture of sweet, savory, salty, nutty and tangy with just a tiny tingle of hot pepper that totally dances across your tongue.

To make this, I had no local source to buy the pomegranate molasses, so I purchased it online. After paying $15 for a small bottle of it, I would have to say don’t bother purchasing this unless you have a lot of money or a Mediterranean market nearby. Just get some pomegranate juice and cook it down to a thick syrup. You don’t need much, just enough to give the dip a little boost of that lovely red pomegranate tart/sweetness.

Muhammara {Roasted Red Pepper Dip}

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 large red bell peppers
• 2 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• juice of 1/2 of a lemon
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 – 3 teaspoons pomegranate molasses (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• A small chunk of a hot pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes)

---

Instructions

1. Fire up your grill. Once it’s hot, set the bell peppers over the heat, cover and let roast for a few minutes. When the peppers are charred and the skin has black spots on the bottom, turn them to roast another side of the peppers. Continue until the skin is roasted all the way around. Set the peppers in a small bowl and cover with a plate to steam them (this will help the peels slip right off). Let the peppers sit in the bowl while you gather and prep the rest of the ingredients.
2. Once the peppers have steamed then cooled, slip the skins off and pull out the stem & core/seeds. Put the rest of the pepper into a handi chopper or food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Pulse, then puree the mixture to make a nice dip consistency without any big chunks. Adjust the hot pepper and pomegranate molasses to the sweetness and hotness that you prefer.
3. Serve with toasted pita bread triangles or veggies–or spread this deliciousness on your sandwich, burger, or wrap.

---

Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2014, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

This recipe was shared at Tuesday’s Table and Foodie Friends Friday.