What do you do with dukkah? Three great recipes

An earthy Egyptian spice blend, dukkah is an elevating friend to have to hand if you want to bring instant character and texture to a dish. Making your own is easy. Dry-fry 100g hazelnuts, 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds, 2 tablespoons of cumin seeds, 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds and a pinch of fennel seeds for 2-3 min, shaking the pan once in a while until just fragrant. Use a pestle and mortar or food processor to reduce to a coarse mix, then season. It is brilliantly adaptable: try adding 1 teaspoon of nigella, upping the fennel to 2 tablespoons, stirring in 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, or adding chilli flakes. Swapping the hazelnuts for walnuts or pistachios makes it differently delicious. It will stay fresh in a sealed container for 7-10 days.

Asparagus, boiled eggs and dukkah

As much as I love boiled eggs and soldiers, in spring I want asparagus in place of the toast. Either way, a dash of dukkah works wonders. The extra nuttiness that roasting gives the asparagus is so good, but you can simmer it for a few minutes in the egg water if you prefer. Usually with asparagus, I gently bend the base until the tough end snaps off, but here I use the base as the handle so I can dip into the yolk easily.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 20 asparagus spears
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 4 tbsp dukkah

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C fan/gas 7 and bring a pan of water to the boil.

2. Mix the asparagus with the olive oil to lightly coat each stalk and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Place in a single layer on a roasting tray and roast for about 10 min, until tender.

4. While the asparagus is cooking, lower the eggs into the water and simmer for 4-5 min to give a runny yolk. Lift from the water and place in eggcups.

5. Remove the asparagus from the oven, sprinkle with half the dukkah and serve with the eggs, a little extra dukkah and salt and pepper.

Celeriac and leek soup

This is one of my favourite soups for winter and spring, beautifully embellished by dukkah’s welcome texture. It also doubles up the sweetness of the leeks and the celeriac’s earthiness. By all means try making this with the same weight of parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes or potatoes in place of the celeriac.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 leeks, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 400g celeriac, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• A good sprig of fresh thyme, leaves only
• 4 tbsp dukkah
• 100ml double cream, plus a little to serve
• 2 tsp chilli oil (optional)
• Nutmeg

Method

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pan over a low/moderate heat, cook the onion and leeks in the olive oil for 10-15 min until softened, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the celeriac, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt, cook for 5 min, then add the stock and thyme and simmer for 15-20 min, stirring occasionally, until the celeriac is tender.

3. Blend until smooth, adding the cream as well as salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve scattered with dukkah, swirled with a little cream and chilli oil and dusted with a generous scratch of nutmeg.

Dukkah fudge

This may be my favourite fudge, with the spices and salt at least trying to keep the richness and sweetness in check. Three elements are crucial: the temperatures; stirring vigorously to ensure a beautifully smooth texture; and allowing the fudge to completely cool out of the fridge as this prevents it becoming tacky. If you don’t eat it all in a weekend, this will keep for a fortnight in a sealed container and at least twice that in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 450g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 90g butter
• 330ml double cream
• Sea salt
• 5 tbsp dukkah, plus a little extra to serve
• Chilli flakes (optional)

Method

1. Line a baking dish (about 20cm x 18cm) with baking parchment. Warm the sugar, golden syrup, butter and cream in a medium-sized pan — it should be no more than a third full — over a low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.

2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring to the boil. Put a sugar thermometer in the pan. Keep the mix bubbling, stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar doesn’t catch. The moment the mixture reaches 115C, turn off the heat and allow it to rest for 5-10 min, until the temperature is below 110C.

3. Add a very generous pinch of salt to the fudge and beat with a wooden spoon as quickly as you can: it will cool and thicken, and will gradually come away from the pan. At this point, stir in the dukkah.

4. Spoon the fudge into the baking dish and smooth with a palette knife as best you can.

5. After an hour or so, cut it into squares but don’t lift the pieces out: leave it for at least 3 hours to set properly. When set, lift it out and scatter with more sea salt, chilli flakes and a little dukkah if you fancy.
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