Turkish cuisine · Salads & Mezze

Spicy Ezme

A fiery meze of finely chopped tomatoes, peppers and onions with pomegranate molasses and toasted walnuts.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 green peppers
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses (nar ekşisi)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 50 g walnuts
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper (pul biber)
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Score the tomatoes crosswise, pour boiling water over them, peel, deseed and cut into very fine cubes — ezme is always chopped, never puréed.
2. Let the tomato cubes drain in a sieve for 10 minutes so the paste doesn't turn watery later.
3. Dice the onion, peppers and deseeded chili just as finely, and finely chop the parsley leaves with a knife.
4. Coarsely chop the walnuts and toast them in a dry pan over medium heat for 2–3 minutes until fragrant; let cool.
5. Mix everything vigorously with the tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, 3 tbsp olive oil, Aleppo pepper and salt, and let it chill and infuse for 30 minutes.
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning once more, spread it out flat on a plate, drizzle with the remaining olive oil, and serve with kebap or flatbread.