Carrie Bradshaw & Aiden's mahamarra that Kristóf and I made for Karin & Omri's wedding.
"My father is the biggest meat eater and you made him drool before each meal and to lick his finger at the end of each day", Karin told us with tears in her eyes, and we felt as if it's the biggest compliment ever we could possibly get... but let's start from the beginning!
A few weeks ago we were invited to be private chefs at a wedding festival of one of the most beautiful Israeli couple we have ever seen in our life, Karin & Omri, who asked us to prepare four breakfasts and four dinners for their 25 closest human beings, who flew from different places in the world to celebrate their love.
It was amazing to be a part of such an exciting and special event and to have the honor of feeding those people who most of them were non vegans. Nearly 60 different dishes we made for them (not including surprise cocktails by the pool or late at night), with honestly - so much joy and love.
One of the only requests the beautiful future bride asked us ahead is to have as much as spreads and dips as possible - so that whoever gets hungry in between meals, or in the middle of a party night, will be able to sneak into the kitchen and enjoy a rich snack just until we are serving the next dish.
One of the spreads we made was mahamarra - a fabulous Arabian sundried tomatoes and fried peppers dish with walnuts thst we got to know thanks to "Sex and The City" - when Aiden met Carrie at a market in Abu Dhabi and he tells her "Come to my hotel they make the best mahamarra".
What do you need for a 4 people's portion:
2 large and beautiful red peppers
200 grams of walnuts / pecans
100 grams of sundried tomatoes
1 very cute tomato
cup of red lentils
4 cloves of garlic
1 purple onion
tablespoon of tomato paste
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
some natural syrup like maple or agave
tablespoon of mustard
half a cup of red wine
smoked paprika (normal paprika is fine)
salt and pepper
How to make it:
First of all, we cook the red lentils until they soften. In a hot frying pan we pour olive oil, a little syrup and the spices, we add the onion and garlic that we cut into nice cubes and let them get a bit of color, add the pepper after cutting them into thin strips (the appearance of the vegetables is less important because we grind everything in the end anyway), now it's the sundried tomatoes, walnuts and lentils turn.
We let everything to get a bit sun-kissed, then we add the wet ingredients: chop the tomato, 1 teaspoon of mustard, and a tablespoon of the tomato paste mixed with a half a cup of red wine. We mix everything, cover with a lid and let it cook for about 7 minutes on low heat. If the pan happens to be too dry add a little water (or even better, red wine). Blend it into a creamy and perfect texture, and crown it with some walnuts.
If you're thinking of getting married in Greece - talk to us, apparently we are good at making this happen, and who knows maybe even your non vegan dad will be satisfied & happy.