Tahini is a paste of ground sesame seeds. In the US, the most common variety is Middle Eastern, which is made with hulled seeds that are lightly roasted. Tahini is common in Arabic cooking, where it frequently finds itself made into a sauce and used as a garnish on meats, vegetables, and falafel. I love tahini on fish, but my most frequent use is served alongside hummus, where I might drizzle a little sauce atop a pita featuring hummus, shallot, and cucumber.
This, a somewhat different approach, is my recipe.
Dirty Tahini
Makes about 1.5 cups.
Ingredients:
1 cup tahini
1 medium-large lemon, juiced
about 3/4 cup of the liquid from a good jar of kalamata olives
sea salt, to taste
finely and freshly-ground white pepper, to taste
In a small mixing bowl, combine the tahini, lemon juice, and white pepper. Stir to combine.
It looks like the sauce broke, but keep adding more liquid and continue stirring
Slowly, a tablespoon at a time, add the olive juice and mix with a spoon. It will look as if the sauce broke, but as you continue mixing and adding more olive juice, the tahini and the liquid will incorporate. Continue until the sauce reaches the consistency of a very thin paste. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Straining the tahini sauce through a mesh strainer
Strain the tahini sauce through a mesh strainer. Transfer to a container with a lid and chill until ready to serve.
Recipe updated.
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