Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip

Warning: this one’s addictive.  So insanely good!  It requires roasting red peppers and toasting walnuts but after that, everything gets tossed in the blender, buzzed, and it’s done.

This is a Middle Eastern recipe, but who says it can’t be served with chappatties and a nice raita? It would also go over very well at a cocktail party, another idea I plan to carry out soon. 

In fact, I want it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktail parties, midnight snacks, snow picnics, the list is endless.  It’s spicy, sweet, salty and creamy, and healthy too!  What a combo! 

4 roasted and peeled red peppers

I was on a rampage, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and oil!

2 roasted hot peppers (optional)

1 tomato roasted or fresh

1 ½ cups walnuts

1 Ryvita sesame cracker or a ¼ cup of bread crumbs

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons (plus) excellent olive oil

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

Hover, flipping till they're just toasted.

2 teaspoons chili flakes (or to taste, but make it HOT!)

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt

15 grates black pepper

(a smidge of water, if necessary)

The barbecue is the best way to roast the peppers.  Place both sweet and hot peppers and the tomato on high heat and turn when blackened, and leave for another ten minutes or so.  They’ll look terrible, but trust that when they cool, they’ll be just right.  

Otherwise, place all on an oiled sheet and pop into a 350 F oven for an hour.  Barbecued, the skin peels off easily.  I had to include some skin since I used the oven and peeling wasn’t such a breeze…  Don’t worry, the blender will take care of it.

Toss the walnuts into a large frying pan, place on medium high heat, and let toast on medium high heat.  You’ll need to hover, moving and flipping the walnuts.  After about ten minutes, brush into the blender, along with the cracker.  Grind to a coarse powder. 

Use just one!

Into the blender,  add the peppers, tomato, garlic, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses,  olive oil, paprika, chili flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. Buzz. This mixture can be a little stiff.  You will want to taste it for heat, and add more chili flakes if needed, along with more oil to move the ingredients along in the blender.  I cheated and added a tiny bit of water, as everything was arguing with the blender blades.  

I don't know why you'd even need to remove the skin...

The first time I made this I used twice as much cracker as I should have, and the mixture was thick.  So thick I had a hard time getting it all out of the blender.  Once I tasted it, how I regretted letting even a few scrapes remain in the blender, only to be washed down the sink.  Get it all out.  It’s worth it.

Yum.  Serve this on crackers.  Or as a side dish with raita and chappatties.  Tantalize your guests at a cocktail party.  Gluttonize on this at two in the morning in front of the refrigerator…

Enjoy.

This recipe has been adapted from www.dedemed.com.