Heat the oven to 350°. Mix the nuts and poppy seeds together and roast them until they start to color. Grind the sesame seeds to a fine powder.

Put 3 tablespoons of the honey in a small pan and bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer gently for 7 minutes (keep your eye on it!). Remove from the heat and add the ground sesame seeds and mix well. Allow it to cool enough to handle and pour out onto an oiled table or marble slab. Grease your hands and knead until it's firm but still warm. Divide it into two equal portions and set one aside to keep warm. Roll out the the other piece with an oiled rolling pin to line the bottom of a greased, shallow square baking tray or pan.

Put all of the roasted nuts into a food processor with the pepper and process to a fine texture. Bring the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil to the boil and simmer for 7 minutes, as above. Add the nut mixture and stir well. While it's still hot, spread this evenly over the sesame layer. Roll out the second piece of sesame/honey paste and place over the nuts.

Leave to set for an hour, then cut into lozenge shapes. Be sure not to leave it longer than an hour, or it will become to hard to cut. Serve with fruit.

(Taken from The Classical Cookbook by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger)