Mhammara (p. 58)

Mhammara is Red Pepper and Walnut Sauce, and is pretty much those ingredients pestled (is that a word?) together with a few other things. My mortar and pestle is pretty tiny and couldn't hold near the amount of ingredients, so I actually did mine in the food processor instead.

Roast red peppers so that they are blackened on the outside, and then place them in a paper bag to steam themselves for another 20 minutes. Once they are all set, peel away the skins and chop the peppers (discarding seeds/membranes/etc.)

In a bowl (or in your food processor), combine garlic, salt, toasted bread crumbs, and walnuts.

Once these have become paste-like, add in the red peppers and continue pounding or processing until the mixture is again paste-like. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and mix in chili pepper, cumin,  lemon juice, olive oil, and, if you have it, pomegranate syrup. I couldn't find the syrup at my Harris Teeter, but the recipe says to add extra lemon juice if the syrup is left out, so I did.

Add toasted pine nuts to the top of the sauce, and you're all ready to go.

Yum! Matt and I both liked the flavors of this, as well as the texture -- it's a little crunchy from the walnuts and bread crumbs, and has a sweetness from the peppers. I'd definitely make this again for a party. We're serving ours with veggies as an appetizer before a little cookout this evening, but it would also work with pitas triangles or on the side of a plainly cooked fish or chicken dish.

peppers -- $5.58

lemon -- $.50

Total Cost for Mhammara: $6.08 (I halved the recipe)