Muhammara | Middle Eastern roasted pepper & walnut dip

Muhammara is a tasty Middle Eastern dip made from roasted red peppers, walnuts and fresh herbs. It goes really well with some warm pita bread! You can also spread it over fish or meat and use it in cooking. The dip originates from Syria in Aleppo, so a traditional muhammara recipe contains "aleppo pepper" - a variety of chilli flakes. However, as I don't have them, I achieve the smoky, sweet and tangy flavour by using ingredients like cumin, smoked paprika, honey and lemon juice! 

Ingredients 
3 long roasted red peppers I buy the already roasted red peppers which come in jars!
Large handful walnuts 
Handful basil and parsley + a little extra chopped parsley for sprinkling over at the end
1 tbsp olive oil 
1/2 tbsp honey (maple syrup or molasses will also do just fine) 
Squeeze lemon juice 
1 tsp cumin 
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (or normal paprika)
Salt & pepper to taste 
Pomegranate seeds to garnish

Method
Time - 10 minutes 

1. In a dry frying pan on low-medium heat, roast the walnuts for a few minutes until lightly toasted. You don't have to do this, but I think it gives another depth of flavour!
   
   
2. Add the walnuts to a blender (reserving a few for chopping and sprinkling over the dip later), along all the other ingredients apart from the pomegranate seeds.
    
3. Blend until you have a slightly coarse (but smooth) dip. It won't be completely smooth - you may have some little walnut chunks in there. But this gives a really nice texture to the dip. 
   
   
4. To finish, drizzle over a little more olive oil and garnish with pomegranate seeds, a few extra chopped walnuts (the ones you saved earlier) and freshly chopped parsley. Enjoy with warm pita bread!