Muhammara with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Roasted Vegetables

1. 8
   Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet.

   Baking pan
2. 9
   Roast the peppers whole in a hot oven (220°C / 430°F) 25 minutes, turning, until the skin is blackened and the flesh completely soft.

   OvenBakeware

   💡Give it room in the pan: crowded vegetables steam instead of browning.
3. 10
   Transfer to a bowl, cover tightly and leave 10 minutes.

   Bowl

   💡The steam in the covered container separates the skin from the flesh, so it comes off easily. Don't rinse under water: the smoky flavor washes away with it.
4. 11
   Peel off the charred skin, remove the stem and seeds from the peppers and drain off the liquid.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 12
   Grind the roasted vegetables in a food processor with the walnuts, garlic, tomato paste, olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate syrup, cumin, paprika and chili, to a coarse spread, not completely smooth, and season with salt and black pepper.

   Food processor

   💡Grind in pulses and stop while small lumps remain: good muhammara is coarse, not a cream.

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
2. 13
   Serve at room temperature with a little olive oil on top.