Maltese bread and chilli paste (Fel fel)

Fel Fel is a traditional Maltese chilli paste made with sun-dried chillies, garlic, olive oil and spices. Fiery, fragrant and full of character, it’s the perfect condiment to spread on fresh bread or add heat to everyday dishes.

Maltese bread and chilli paste (Fel fel). Credit: Shane Delia's Malta

• makes

  1 jar

• prep

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 50 g stale good quality sour dough bread, cut into small chunks
• 100 g long red chillies (see Note)
• 100 g bullet chillies (see Note)
• 80 g Calabrian chillies (see Note)
• 20 g garlic
• 140 ml white wine vinegar
• 150 ml olive oil
• 30 g sea salt

Spices

• 5 g fennel seeds
• 2 g of coriander seeds
• 5 g of cumin
• 2 anise seeds
• 2 black peppercorns
  

Instructions

Chop bread into chunks, Chop chillis into small pieces, removing the stems.

Roast spices in a pan.

In a food processor, blitz bread. Take out and set aside.

In the food processor blitz all the chillies, then add garlic, spices, bread, vinegar, olive oil and salt.

Put in a sealed jar, drizzle a little bit of olive oil to seal it and store immediately in the fridge.

 

Note

• A mix of chillies is suggested. You can use one style of chilli if preferred; I would recommend long red chillies as others may affect the heat level dramatically.
• Use in dishes such as Spaghetti with sea urchin, zucchini, caper and fel fel.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.