Sweet peppers are the last fruits to leave the kitchen garden before frost — the ones that hung on through cool nights, turning from green to scarlet and concentrating sugar week by week. Walnuts drop in the same stretch of October, husks splitting on the grass. This dip puts both to work: smoky charred pepper flesh ground coarse with toasted walnuts, cumin and pomegranate molasses into something thick enough to stand up on a spoon.
⏱ Prep 20 min🔥 Cook 20 min👥 Serves 6 as a dip📊 Level Easy
Ingredients for 6 people
4 large red bell peppers, about 1½ lb (700 g) whole
1 cup (100 g) walnut halves, plus 2 tbsp chopped to finish
¾ cup (50 g) coarse dry breadcrumbs from stale sourdough or country bread
2 tbsp (30 ml) pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tsp cumin seeds
1–2 tsp Aleppo pepper (pul biber), or ½ tsp sweet paprika plus ¼ tsp chilli flakes
⅓ cup (80 ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
½ tsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
The Recipe
Char the whole peppers directly over a gas flame, on a barbecue, or under a very hot grill 4 in (10 cm) from the element, turning with tongs every 3–4 minutes until the skins are blistered and blackened in large patches, 12–15 minutes total. You want the skin burnt and the flesh underneath just collapsing — the black is flavour, not damage. Pale, evenly cooked peppers give a dip that tastes only sweet, with no smoke behind it.
Pile the hot peppers into a bowl and cover tightly with a plate or lid for 10 minutes. The trapped steam lifts the skin away from the flesh, so it slips off in sheets instead of being scraped.
Peel, stem and deseed the peppers over a sieve set in a bowl, and do not rinse them under the tap — running water strips the smoky, sugary juices you just spent fifteen minutes creating. Let the flesh drain in the sieve for 10 minutes; this liquid is what turns a dip watery.
Tip the drained juices into a small pan and simmer over medium heat for 3–4 minutes until reduced to about 1 tbsp of glossy syrup that coats the back of a spoon. Set aside. Do not skip this step — it returns all the concentrated pepper flavour without the water.
Toast the walnuts on a tray at 325 °F (160 °C) for 8–10 minutes, until the kitchen smells nutty and a cracked nut shows pale gold inside. Cool them completely on the tray before grinding: warm nuts release oil under the blade and turn the dip pasty. If the papery skins taste sharply bitter, rub the cooled nuts in a tea towel and discard the flakes.
Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 45–60 seconds, shaking constantly, until they darken a shade, crackle and smell warm and citrusy. Grind in a mortar. Pre-ground cumin has already lost most of its volatile oils and will taste dusty here.
Pulse the walnuts and breadcrumbs in a food processor to coarse rubble, about 10 short pulses — doing the dry ingredients first lets you control the texture, and the crumbs act as a sponge for the oil to come. Add the drained pepper flesh, the reduced syrup, garlic, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, cumin, Aleppo pepper and salt. Pulse 8–10 times in one-second bursts only: the dip should hold the ridges of a spoon, with visible flecks of walnut. A smooth purée goes gluey and tastes flat.
With the motor running in short bursts, trickle in the olive oil and stop the moment it is incorporated — over-working emulsifies the oil into something heavy and dulls the smoke.
Rest the dip for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or an hour in the fridge, so the breadcrumbs swell and the garlic loses its raw edge. Taste again afterwards and correct with lemon or salt — chilling mutes acidity, and a dip that tasted balanced warm often needs a few extra drops cold. Spread into a shallow bowl, swirl a hollow with the back of a spoon, and finish with olive oil, chopped walnuts, parsley and a pinch of Aleppo pepper.
