Red Pepper Paste Recipe

One of my favorite things about learning to make food from around the world are the bonus lessons that accompany good, wholesome, authentic dishes. Part of the magic that happens when you create a recipe from scratch is the specific flavors that come through during the cooking process.

I have found that keeping a dish as authentic as possible, including made-from-scratch pastes and sauces, is a big part of that magic.

While testing recipes for my book, and learned to make a soup called Tlavhe (pronounced Clo Hay) It’s a traditional “ Siryoyo” red lentil soup created by my friend, Suheyla, who is a master at creating the yum factor in every dish she makes. The thing I love most about this recipe is the homemade red pepper paste that goes into giving this soup a slight kick of heat and a big burst of flavor.

Although you can purchase pepper paste in a Middle Eastern grocery store, nothing compares to the dramatic flavor achieved from freshly made pepper paste.  I also prefer to keep the recipe as close to its original form as possible since that sets this soup apart from any other lentil soup recipe you will find.

Best of all, you can enjoy this red pepper paste in many different recipes so you can spread out the fun with your own homemade paste all week long.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you’ve made it please share it with me by tagging @culinarybutterfly on Pinterest.