Storecupboard Essentials: Pomegranate Molasses

Middle Eastern cooking which is becoming more and more popular, partially to the work of Yotan Ottolenghi, with his excellent books, restaurants, newspaper column and television series. The cuisine is generally relatively healthy and bursting with fresh flavours.  

Pomegranate molasses are widely available from supermarkets and Middle Eastern shops, it lasts for ages, but there are so many delicious ways to use it up that it does not deserve to languish unloved at the back of a kitchen cupboard. 

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Start a Middle Eastern themed dinner party with these mouth-watering Iranian style sweet and sour olives, marinated in garlic, mint and pomegranate molasses and served topped with walnuts and fresh pomegranate. 

One of my favourite weekday suppers; simply drizzle some grapes with olive oil and pomegranate molasses and bake them in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve with fried halloumi. The juice from the grapes mixes with the molasses and makes a delicious rich, tart sauce. You can even make this with frozen grapes making it a perfect speedy weekday supper.

If you are looking to impress then this recipe Moroccan Vegetarian Bastilla with Butternut, Chickpeas and Sweet Potato Caramel served with a roasted pepper, pomegranate and Hazelnut dip is perfect. It is a complicated recipe, but step by step photos will guide you through, or you can just make the delicious dip.

Lebanese food expert Bethany Kehdy’s fattoush salad is recreated by food writer and photographer Michelle. She explains that part of the joy of a fattoush salad is its rustic chunkiness. Ingredients will vary according to household, season and region, but the basics will always be lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, cucumber and onion flavoured with mint and sumac and topped with Arabic bread. The secret to this salad is a good glug of pomegranate molasses in the dressing for depth and flavour.

A more winterly and Northern European take on a salad with pomegranate molasses dressing is made with roasted root vegetables – carrots, beetroot and parsnips – lightened with clementine slices and then dressed with a pomegranate and maple syrup dressing.  Beautifully colourful as well as seasonal.

I am a fan of poussin. Somehow having a whole bird seems far more special, as well as bringing an equality to the table as everyone has to deal with the bones, rather than just the person who carves! Here poussins are stuffed with a mix of bulgur wheat, cherries, cashews which have been flavoured with pomegranate molasses. Prepare in advance and simply roast and serve with braised lettuce it is the perfect dish for a romantic meal at home au deux!

This cholesterol lowering salad contains chickpeas and walnuts, sweetened with pomegranate seeds and dressed with a fat-free dressing of no fat yoghurt, quark and pomegranate molasses. Sunshine in a bowl, and leftovers are perfect to take to work as a packed lunch.

A beautiful green vegetable salad, which is exactly the type of dish that I’d expect to see in one of Ottolenghi’s cafes. Substantial and with some bite it is equally at home in the garden in the summer, or with meat inside in the winter. Sumac and pomegranate molasses make a sweet and tangy dressing.

This simple to make no bake cheesecake has a crunchy oaty base and creamy mascarpone and pomegranate topping. The recipe includes instructions for making a pomegranate syrup, but simply use pomegranate molasses in its place and add a little more sugar to the cream. 

Fig, apple and pomegranate jam is delightfully autumnal, rather different, tart but not too sweet and would make a perfect Christmas present, I have a feeling it would go very well with cheese.

Helen Best-Shaw is a freelance food & recipe writer and blogger at Fuss Free Flavours.

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