I think it’s important to choose your friends well.

My father taught me from a young age that you need to look for certain qualities in friends: honesty, integrity, sense of humor, intelligence, reliability, etc.

Pah! What a load of stuff and piffle.

As far as I am concerned, if they can cook, they’re in. If they can cook really well, they’re life-long friends.

Here’s a great recipe passed to me from one of my life-long friends.

Ready

• 7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained
• 1 chipotle pepper
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 2 Tbs (or slightly more) pomegranate molasses
• 1 Tbs ground cumin
• ½ cup (or slightly more) extra-virgin olive oil
• ½-1 cup walnuts

Set

• Blender
• Bowl

Go

1. Combine all the ingredients (holding back half of your walnuts) and place the lot in the blender.
2. Once it is mostly blended, add the rest of the walnuts and pulse a few times so as to only partially break them up (adds a lovely texture to the finished dish).

What you should know

Serve it with flat breads of your choice (and napkins!).