Dukkah

When I was back in New Zealand last year I was lucky enough to be treated to some fabulous food at some of NZ’s premier restaurants— Logan Brown, The Mattahorn, Martin Bosley. While we were eating at Logan Brown (yes, I had the Abalone Ravioli and loved them!) we were served a dry spice dip with bread and olive oil. I was so enamored of the dip and when I inquired about it, they gave me the recipe! Score!

Dukkah is an Egyptian nut and spice dip, and this one also has dried olives. It is so scrumptious and I’ve been wanting now for the past year to make it; and finally I did. And I am so glad I did. My kids loved it (it’s very salty and quite intense) as did my friends. It also got me to experiment with a new spice blend for another recipe.

This began as Logan Brown’s recipe but I had to change it a little because I didn’t have any hazelnuts but I did have Filbert (hazelnut) oil. So I roasted the almonds in the oil.

I also was making a smaller amount and just rounded off the ingredient listed in metric weight to figure out the ratios. So these are approximate measurements.

Dukkah

½ cup dried cured black olives (dry on paper towel overnight before starting)

1 Tbsp hazelnut oil (or 1 cup hazelnuts)

1 cup raw almonds

¼ cup sesame seeds

1 Tbsp coriander seeds

2 tsp fennel seeds

sprinkle of dried thyme

sea salt to taste (really taste it first as you might not need any)

In a bowl mix the almonds and hazelnut oil then pop in 350°F for several minutes until roasted, set aside and cool. Keep an eye on the almonds as you don’t want to burn them; which can happen if your 4 year old needs your help in the bathroom. Toast the seeds (I did sesame separately) in pan over medium-high heat (dry, no oil). Put pitted olives, nuts and seeds in food processor and blend until crumbly. Add thyme and process slightly more. Let sit overnight to dry some more, but only if you can wait! Serve with bread (pita is perfect) and a good olive oil. Dip bread in oil then dukkah. Store in airtight container.