Israeli Tahini Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup tahini sesame seed paste (made from light colored seeds)
  • 3/4 cup lukewarm water, or more for consistency
  • 3 cloves raw garlic (or 5 cloves roasted garlic)
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp fine ground sea salt (or more to taste)
  • 2 tsp fresh parsley, minced (optional)

Directions:

  1. Grind sesame seed paste, lukewarm water, garlic, lemon juice and salt together in a food processor or blender till sauce is creamy and ivory-colored.
  2. A food processor is the easiest way to make this sauce; scrape the sides of the processor periodically during processing. If using a blender, you may need to use a long-handled spoon to break up the thick part of the sauce once every 30 seconds; this will keep it from clogging your blender blades.
  3. After a few minutes of blending, sauce will turn into a rich, smooth paste. If mixture is too thick, slowly add more water until it reaches the preferred consistency. You may need quite a bit of water depending on the thickness of your tahini paste.
  4. If using tahini to top hummus or a meat dish, keep it thick and creamy. As a condiment for pita or falafel or a salad dressing, a more liquid sauce is usually preferred. Taste often during the blending process; add more lemon juice or salt, if desired.