Adapted from epicurious
An enticing way to add spice and flavor to so many dishes! Harissa is the basic flavoring for Tunisian cuisine and is frequently used in middle eastern dishes as well. You can use it on meats, chicken or fish, in soups and sauces, stir it into eggs to spice up your mornings, toss it with roasted vegetables, even add some to your cocktail. The possibilities are endless!
I fell in love with harissa after reviewing Alice Phillips’ cookbook Ally’s Kitchen: a Passport for Adventurous Palates. The recipe I chose to make from her cookbook was a Harissa Moroccan Chicken with olives and peppers and it was SO good I later made it for a cooking class. Everyone at the class loved the chicken and agreed it would be a stunning dish to make for a dinner party or date night. I used a powdered harissa for that recipe and totally loved it, but I noticed there are also harissa pastes about and I was intrigued by that. I wondered: would the paste be similar to the powder … or better? It certainly couldn’t be worse!
When I was gifted a HUGE peck of peppers from my mom and dad’s garden (they always tell me to take as many as they want … their garden is HUGE!), I decided it was time to give this harissa paste a try. I looked at many recipes and settled on the one from epicurious, but I made a slight adjustment to the recipe. Instead of oven roasting the peppers, I decided to roast them on the grill. I love how the charcoal grill adds a nice smoky flavor and I seriously thought that a smoky harissa would be amazing.
And, you guys, it totally is! I freaking LOVE this harissa paste. So far I’ve used it in an egg bake and a casserole … and I also mixed some with cream cheese to make an uber flavorful cheese spread. Oh yeah baby!
You can adjust the amount of heat by decreasing the amount of hot pepper you use, but remember, harissa paste is meant to be hot! Also, keep in mind this paste is used as a seasoning, so a Tablespoon or two might flavor an entire dish.
If you want to try the powdered version, here’s a harissa recipe from Ally’s Kitchen that is really dang good! It’s the harissa I used for that Harissa Chicken recipe I was bragging about earlier. I am forever grateful for my good friend Alice who introduced me to harissa and now that I have a nice bunch of it in the freezer, I can’t wait to play with it more. You’re definitely going to see some new harissa recipes popping up on this blog soon.
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Smoky Harissa Paste
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: about 3/4 cup of harissa paste 1x
Ingredients
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 1 small red onion, peeled and halved
- 3 hot red chiles (I used red jalapenos)
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds (or powdered cumin)
- 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Fire up the grill and set the peppers and onion on the grill. Grill, turning, until the skin of the peppers are charred and the onion is softened. Set the peppers in a bowl and cover with a plate or other bowl cover. Once they’ve softened, pull the peel off the peppers and remove (some or most of) the seeds.
- Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Toast the spices in the dry pan for a few minutes, until fragrant.
- Put the roasted peppers, onion, spices, and other ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Store in a sealed jar or container in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
© Copyright 2018, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Wondering what to make with harissa?
Here are some amazing harissa recipes from me and my foodie friends:
- Harissa Spiced Chicken Kabobs – Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
- Sheet Pan Moroccan Steak with Carrot Top Chimichurri – Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
- Harissa Chicken and Vegetables – Ally’s Kitchen
- Veal Harissa Meatball & Fruit Kabobs (winner of the Dole California Cookoff!) – Ally’s Kitchen
- Barley Lentil Harissa Veggie Stew
- Harissa Tomato Soup with Cheese Crisps
- Harissa Moroccan Chicken with Roasted Peppers & Olives
And even more ingenious uses for harissa:
- Harissa is So Hot Right Now! Here are 20 Recipes that Prove It – Brit + Co
- 9 Ways to Use Harissa – Food & Wine
- 13 Harissa Recipes – Bon Appetit
- What to Do with Harissa – Serious Eats
- Harissa Recipes – BBC Food
- 5 Harissa Uses and Recipes that May Surprise You – Casablanca Foods
- 15 Ways to Use Harissa – Try the World Magazine
- 6 Incredible Harissa Recipes – Reader’s Digest
This post was shared at Full Plate Thursday.
12 comments
Harissa in both color, complexity and taste is so wonderful! It was Ally’s cookbook that also opened my eyes to this magic 😉 thanks for sharing this – I love it!
Hi Diane. It was Ally’s cookbook that introduced me to harissa too! So glad you like this one.
Love this. I have never made my own harissa paste before. Just looking through the ingredients makes me know I would love this!
You totally would, Steve! I hope you try it.
This looks so good. I have been wanting to make my own harissa for ages! Thanks so much for sharing.
Oh I hope you try it, Billy! It’s so good.
Your Smoky Harissa Paste looks great, I am very happy to have this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and have a great week!
Miz Helen
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