Recipe #1 in Binnur’s Turkish Cookbook Corner

Red and I discovered Muhammara on a meze tray at the Paprika Restaurant, during our last trip to Yalikavak. It became one of our most requested side dishes, and even if they didn’t have any available, they were happy to made us a fresh batch!

If you’re selecting a group of meze for your meal, the texture and spice-level of this dish is a great compliment, especially if you want to spice up some of the mellower meze, like hydari or fava.Muhammara, also know as Acuka, is an extremely flexible dish.  It’s colourful and spicy with the texture of hummus, and can be used as a dip, spread on crackers or bread, or tossed in pasta etc.

• 1 tablespoonful red pepper paste* (or roasted red peppers, but not roasted red peppers from a jar)
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 4-5 tablespoonful breadcrumbs
• 3 garlic clove (optional)
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp red pepper, crushed -or less!*
• 1 teaspoonful cumin
• 1 lemon juice

1. Put the walnut, garlic and breadcrumbs in the food processor and pulse 2 or 3 times.
2. Add the lemon juice, red pepper paste (or roasted red peppers), cumin and crushed red pepper.
3. Close the lid of the mixer. While mixing, pour in the olive oil from the small opening at the top. Make sure not to over-mix, the walnuts should still be left in small pieces.
4. Serve with toasted pide (pita) or toasted bread pieces.

If you don’t have Red Pepper Paste Available, here’s Binnur’s recipe for Roasted Red Pepper:

1. Cut off the tops of the red peppers and discard the seeds.
2. Cut each pepper in half, set the oven to broil (grill), and heat it up.
3. Place the red peppers on an oven tray (inside facing down) and place in the oven.
4. Roast them for about 15 minutes. Leave them in a paper or plastic bag for about 10 minutes to peel off the skin easily.

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I’ve made this dish using Aleppo Pepper, a Turkish crushed chili which has an ancho-like flavor with a little more heat and tartness, it’s also known as Pul Biber “flake pepper” in Turkish.  We bought a bag of it from Yalikavak Market, and brought it home with us.

© Binnur’s Turkish Cookbook.