Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper Dip)

[mific]

This is very much my version of muhammara, after trial and error. It has a lot less pomegranate molasses than the trad version as I found that made it taste too jammy. And the special aleppo pepper in the original recipe was too mild and relatively tasteless for me, and harder to find. Sub away, as I have. The core flavours are the roasted peppers, walnuts, cumin, and garlic. 

Prep Time: 15 mins max | Servings: ~8

Ingredients:
1 (~450g or ~15 oz) jar of roasted red bell peppers (drained)
1.5 cups walnuts
1 fat clove garlic, peeled and rough-chopped (or 2 regular sized cloves)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (optional - it's traditional but a bit hard to locate. Can just use maple syrup/sugar and vinegar as it's sweet-tart. Or just use a sweetish balsamic vinegar by itself.)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons chilli crisp (chiili flakes cooked in oil) (optional - I like it mildly hot)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon pink/kosher salt
1 Tbsp powdered psyllium or unflavored metamucil (optional. Helps thicken it a bit and I like the extra fiber)
1 tsp MSG (optional. Could sub with anything umami and not too wet like some nutritional yeast, stock concentrate, etc.)

Directions:
Toast the walnuts in a large, dry frying pan over medium heat until lightly golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer the nuts and garlic to a food processor. Blend until everything is broken down into fine crumbs.
Add the well-drained roasted peppers, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, lemon juice, chilli crisp, cumin, msg, psyllium, and salt. Pulse until the dip is mostly smooth but still a bit textured.

Keeps well in the fridge. Eat with flatbread, toast, veggie crudites, etc.