Paper Palate

Summer is in full swing here in Chicago and, much as I am committed to Foodbound, I’m not crazy enough to cook in this heat. So I decided to look for something to test from Ana Sortun’s Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean that did not require much cooking.

Muhammara, like many middle eastern recipes, is claimed by just about every country, so it’s hard to determine exactly where it originated. It’s spicy with a subtle sweet backbite and is delicious with pita, toast, or spread on roasted eggplant and rolled, as presented in Spice. I chose not to serve it with the roasted eggplant (see above re: too hot to use the oven), and instead bought a round of sturdy wheat bread at my local farmers’ market. I braved the broiler for ten minutes to make crostini.

I didn’t have Aleppo or Urfa chilies on hand, so I substituted the two I did have–Guajillo and Pasilla. While I think the taste works just fine, neither of those chilies is spicy enough. I plan to make this again, and I will definitely find the proper chilies.

I also didn’t have pomegranate molasses, so I bought some 100% pomegranate juice and cooked 1 cup on a high simmer for about half an hour, reducing it to around 1/3 of a cup.

The most time-consuming part of this recipe was roasting the red peppers. The book provides instructions for both oven roasting and charring over an open gas flame, which would be helpful to someone who has not roasted peppers before.

Once the peppers were roasted, peeled and seeded, it was easy to combine the rest of the ingredients and blend them. If this recipe is any indication, the rest of the recipes in the book should be easy to follow, and as delicious.

My only critique is that it thickened up a bit too much in the refrigerator. I would cut the amount of bread crumbs (or omit them entirely), or add some water.

Note: If you decide not to use the eggplant, only use 1/4 cup olive oil, plus the 1 Tbsp for garnish.

1 whole eggplant, peeled
3/4 cup olive oil plus 1 Tbsp for garnish
2 large red bell peppers (about 1 lb. total), roasted and peeled
4 whole scallions, root ends trimmed and finely chopped (reserve 1 Tbsp for garnish)
1 tsp chopped garlic (about 1 large clove)
1/3 cup walnut halves, lightly toasted
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted, plus 1 Tbsp for garnish
1/2 cup finely ground toasted bread crumbs
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (almost 1/2 lemon)
1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 Tbsp Aleppo chilies plus 1/2 tsp for garnish
1 Tbsp Urfa chilies plus 1/2 tsp for garnish
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp yogurt
3/4 tsp salt plus more to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.

Slice the eggplant lengthwise as thinly as you can (no thicker than 1/4 inch), into 8 slices. Discard the rounded ends or roast for another use.

Place the eggplant slices on a heavy baking sheet and brush them generously using 1/2 cup of the olive oil or more (give or take a couple of tablespoons, depending on the size of the eggplant) on both sides. The eggplant should absorb the oil and not look dry. Place the eggplant slices in the oven and roast them until soft, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Remove as many seeds from the red peppers as you can and place them in a small mixing bowl. Add the scallions, garlic, walnuts, pine nuts, bread crumbs, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, Aleppo and Urfa chilies, cumin, yogurt, and the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Stir to combine.

Using a food processor fitted with a metal blade, puree the ingredients until smooth. Season to taste with salt.

Lay each eggplant slice down and place a heaping tablespoon of the pepper mixture at one end of the eggplant.

Roll up the eggplant, making a little bundle or roulade. Cut the roulade in half, making bite size pieces. Serve at room temperature garnished with some toasted pine nuts or walnuts, chopped scallions, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon. Sprinkle with more Aleppo and/or Urfa chilies if you like things spicier.

from Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, by Ana Sortun (ReganBooks, 2006)