Flame-roasted pepper, pistachio & dill yogurt

We Eastern types are slightly obsessed with yogurt. It’s a staple of the table, whether served plain or combined with cucumber, spinach or beetroot, and an essential for any serious meal in an Eastern household. While roasted peppers don’t feature heavily in Persian cuisine, I very much love the texture and they always remind me of sun-soaked destinations like Turkey or Greece. The added crunch from the pistachios makes this less of a dip and more of a dish in itself. Lightly toast or chargrill some of your favourite bread and use it as a vessel to scoop this up.

50g pistachio slivers (or very roughly chopped whole nuts)

olive oil, for drizzling

Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetarian 450g jar (170g drained weight) red or mixed-coloured flame-roasted peppers, drained and patted dry

1 long shallot, very finely chopped1 garlic clove, minced

500g Greek yogurt

1 small packet (about 30g) of dill, very finely chopped

Serves 4–6

Thinly slice the peppers widthways into ribbons. Put them into a mixing bowl along with the shallot and garlic and give them a mix. Add the yogurt, dill, pistachios, some salt and a generous amount of pepper, then drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix together well. Leave to sit for about 5 minutes and then check and adjust the seasoning to taste.

Spread the yogurt mixture on to a large plate, add a little extra drizzle of olive oil and a grinding of pepper and serve.

Simply delicious with… Pomegranate Molasses & Honey-glazed Meatballs (see page 56) or Albaloo Polow (see page 89).

This recipe is from Simply by Sabrina Ghayour