Recipe: muhammara chickpeas by Amelia Christie-Miller

(Image credit: Joe Woodhouse)

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Ingredients: serves four
Method

published 14 January 2024

Move over hummus, said Amelia Christie-Miller. This classic Levantine dip of walnuts, roasted red peppers, spices and pomegranate molasses is sweet, earthy and nutty: you'll want to eat it with or on everything. In this version, it's stirred through chickpeas, but you could also try serving it in a pitta bread with lettuce and tomatoes. It will keep in the fridge for up to five days.

Ingredients: serves four

50g walnut pieces (or almonds or hazelnuts), plus extra to serve
1 slice of crusty white bread or bread of your choice, roughly chopped into chunks
3 red peppers (either from a jar for a speedy version, or fresh if you’re grilling yourself)
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper, dried chilli flakes or hot chilli powder
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 garlic clove, crushed
juice of ½ a lemon
1-2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
To serve: pomegranate seeds, handful of freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley or coriander, feta (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Tip the walnuts and bread chunks onto a baking tray and bake for 6-8 minutes until slightly golden. Keep checking to make sure they don't burn. This step is optional, but roasting the nuts brings out their earthy, nutty flavour.
If you're using jarred peppers, skip to the next step. If using fresh red peppers, put them on a baking tray and slide under a grill. Once they start to blacken, turn them over until they're charred on all sides. (You can also do this on a barbecue or over a gas stove: char them straight on the flame, turning with tongs.) Once charred, place into a bowl and cover with cling film. Steaming them like this makes them easy to peel. Once they're cool enough to handle, peel and discard the charred skins from the peppers.
Transfer the peppers to a blender or food processor, along with the bread, walnuts, spices, purée, molasses, garlic, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Blitz until smooth. Add a few spoonfuls of water to loosen, if necessary.
Tip the chickpeas into a bowl. Add the muhammara and stir to combine, making sure the chickpeas are well coated in the sauce.
To serve, sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and the fresh parsley or coriander. Add a sprinkle of feta here, if you like, and some extra toasted walnuts for crunch. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and serve. This is great alongside a fresh, crunchy salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.