Playing with Dukkah--Bread and Soup!

 Turkish Lentil Soup with Yogurt and Dukkah

Playing with Dukkah--Bread and Soup!

by Victoria Challancin

I am a play baby.  I really am.  I love to play.  Play with my dogs, play with my family, play with recipes, play with my friends, play with life.  And, in spite of my mother's admonitions when I was a child, I like to play with my food.  Today let's play with dukkah.

For those of you new to dukkah, you truly need to sit up and take notice.  Dukkah, an Egyptian nut and spice blend, is simply a dish to embrace.  Rich, exciting, exotic, dukkah, which is eaten throughout the Middle East, can be incorporated in your recipes in myriad ways (for suggestions on how to use it, a bit of history, variations, and my own recipe for a hazelnut dukkah, click here).  Once you have tried it, I promise that you will look for ways to use it.  And this version is a little different from any I have made before because of the addition of lemon zest and smoked paprika.

In a recent class for Mexican cooks in early December, we made a pistachio dukkah which we then used three ways, though this is only the mere tip of the iceberg of what you can do with it:

• As a dip with olive oil for crostini or bread
• Added to grissini (bread sticks) dough
• As a garnish for a Turkish Lentil Soup

Truly, its uses are many. And like most recipes, it deserves to be explored!

 Pistachio Dukkah, Olive Oil, and Bread (better if toasted!)

Cook's Notes:  I found this recipe, which I adapted to US-style measurements, on the lovely Glamourous Glutton's blog, where she made them as Christmas gifts. I like this pistachio version, especially nice with the green for Christmas, though my own hazelnut-style dukkah would also work fine.  I used instant yeast here.

Recipe:  Pistachio Dukkah Grissini

(Recipe adapted from GlamourousGlutton.com)

4 cups strong white flour

7g dried yeast (1 packet or 2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 cup dukkah (see the following recipe)

280ml luke-warm water (1.18 cups--yes, this is strange--just approximate it)

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Corn meal for sprinkling on baking sheet

Place the flour, dried yeast, salt and dukkah in a bowl.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Mix the water and olive oil and pour into the well.  Using your hands, mix all the ingredients together and turn out onto a floured work top.  Knead for 5 to 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Place in a oiled owl and leave to rise, covered, in a warm place for about one hour, or until doubled in size.  Turn out again onto a floured surface and push into a rectangular shape.

Preheat the oven to 220C/450F.

Cut into thin, or thick strips and roll to shape into sticks of desired size.  Place on a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal and leave to rise again, as before.  Place in the oven and imediately turn the heat down to 200C/400F.

Bake until golden brown, 7 to 15 minutes, depending on size.  Cool on a rack; keep in an airtight container.

Cook's Notes:  Although I have made dukkah (spellings vary) many, many times, this is the first time I have added lemon zest or smoked paprika to the mix of nuts and toasted spices.  However you decide to make this seductive blend, you won't go wrong.  Just make sure to use whole spices, previously toasted and then ground, and toasted nuts of choice as well. Note that this recipe, which makes a large amount, can easily be halved, as we did in class).

Recipe:  Pistachio Dukkah

(Recipe by The Kitchn via Glamourous Glutton)

1 1/2 cups hazelnuts

1 1/2 cups pistachios

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup coriander seeds

1/4 cup cumin seeds

Zest of 4 lemons

1 teaspoon salt  (I used kosher)

1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Toast all the nuts and seeds in separate batches in a dry skillet.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the hazelnuts and 1/2 cup pistachios; set aside.  Combine remaining ingredients in food processor and pulse until finely ground.  Pour into a bowl.  Add the reserved nuts to the food processor and pulse until just roughly chopped.  Add the the finely ground mixture and mix by hand to incorporate.

Store in an airtight container in a dark place.

 Pistachio Dukkah Grissini

These grissini, or breadsticks, can be made whatever thickness you like.  Often, I make them really skinny, but for this class we chose to make them a bit thicker.  Who knows why.  Note my Mom's very old baking sheet, which guarantees a perfect final product.

Pistachio Dukkah Grissini on a Mexican tortilla cloth made by a friend

 Pistachio Dukkah Grissini

Turkish Lentil Soup with Yogurt and Dukkah

Cook's Notes:  I would love to have made this soup with red lentils, but on that shopping day, all that were available were regular green lentils, which worked fine.  I also used just plain yogurt instead of the thicker Greek yogurt, because it is what I had on hand.  In terms of texture, in Turkey this soup is usually completely pureed, but I chose to puree only about one third of the soup, leaving the rest chunky.  This dish is called Mercimek Çorbasi in Turkish.

Recipe:  Turkish Red Lentil Soup with Yogurt and Dukkah

(Basic Soup Recipe from One Perfect Bite, inspired by a recipe from myvegetableblog.wordpress.com, fiddled with by me)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 red onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup red lentils (I used green)

1 28-0z can crushed tomatoes

6 cups vegetable or poultry stock

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Greek-style yogurt for serving

Dukkah, for garnish

Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.  Add onion and carrots and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add garlic, cumin, coriander, and ginger and cook, stirring, for a minute.  Add tomato paste, lentils, tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Cover pot, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a blender in batches and process until smooth.  If soup is too thick, think with water or additional stock.

Serve with a dollop of yogurt and sprinkle with dukkah.

 Carmen and Juanita, playing

Parting Shot:

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved

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