How to Make Easy Harissa Paste.

Harissa Paste is a condiment originating from Tunisia and one of those flavours that once tasted, you become hooked on. If you like spicy, rich flavours, then this is a must-have ingredient in your kitchen. Its tones of fragrant spices, together with the kick of chilli, place it firmly in my top 12 store cupboard ingredients. This recipe uses peppers as well as chilli to make a more refined, smother paste than all chilli versions.

How to use Harissa Paste.

Most people will be familiar with Harissa stirred though cous-cous, but its uses stretch far beyond that. It makes a great marinade for meat or fish, particularly for the barbeque. Try a spoonful in a tomato sauce or a lamb stew, or simply stir it into some mayonnaise to make a summertime picnic dressing. The ubiquitous Prawn Cocktail can be given a sneaky edge with a little Harissa mixed into the sauce before adding the prawns.

Cheating.

A great cheat is to add it to a shop bought item like Coleslaw or Hummus. Your guest will assume you have been busy in the kitchen all day. Just remember to hide the containers or the game will be up!

Beware though, once you start using harissa it becomes additive. The good news is that it freezes well so you can always have it on hand. Its one of my Top 12 Seasonings, see the rest of them HERE.

Why bother making Harissa Paste?  when I can just buy it.

Let me explain this with a short story. Some years ago, when perfecting the recipe, I thought it would be a clever idea to buy a ready – made version to compare the flavours. So, we when to a supermarket and bought a well-known leading brand of harissa and performed a taste test.

Well, putting it simply, the bought version was flat and lacked any of the characteristics of a good harissa. Been a bit puzzled I checked out the ingredients list on the container, and what do you think was the main ingredient? Peppers? Chilli? Even tomato? No, it was carrots!

I think today things might have improved, but it’s still better to make your own. You have the ability to tune the recipe to your own liking, hotter or milder Some people like to add some roasted and ground caraway seeds, its up to you. You’re in control.

You will need.

• Blender or mortar and pestle
• Chopping board and knife
• Measuring spoons
• Camping stove or blowtorch if you don’t have a gas cooker.

Harissa Paste.

Makes roughly 280g of finished paste.

• 2                           med red peppers
• 5 tsp                     tomato puree
• 3 med                  red chillies, deseeded
• 2 large                  cloves of garlic
• 1 ½ tsp                ground coriander
• ½ tsp                    ground cumin
• ½ tsp                    hot smoked paprika
• juice of ½ a lemon
• 2tbsp                    olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt

How to Make Harissa Paste – Roasting the Peppers.

Traditionally the peppers would be roasted in the coals of an open fire. This not only cooks the pepper buy also allow the skin to be removed easily. During the process, the flesh of the pepper takes on a smoky flavour which enhances the paste immensely. I also use a little smoked paprika in the recipe to capitalise on the flavour.

This is a bit messy, but this is about 80% of the work in making the paste.

Cooking with gas.

If you cook on gas its easy, just place the pepper over an open gas flame turning it with a pair of tongs. Have some clingfilm on hand, and once the pepper is black all over, wrap it in the clingfilm. Don’t be put off by the colour thinking the pepper is ruined. The black is only the skin, which we will remove. Repeat this for the second pepper, them leave them to cool completely. Some people like to roast the chillies as well, I just use the smoked paprika instead.

Now I don’t have gas, so I use a picnic stove backed up by a blowtorch. It works fine, as long as it’s not raining!

How to Make Harissa Paste – Cleaning the Peppers.

Once the peppers have cooled, we get to the messy bit. You will see that the peppers have collapsed a little as they cooked, and there will be some liquid sitting inside the flesh. Keeping the film in place slice down one side of the pepper and open it up a little. Cut off the stem, and you will be able to open the pepper right out to a flat sheet. Flip the pepper over using the film to lift off as much of the black skin as possible. The rest of the black skin can simply be scraped off with the back of a knife. Don’t worry about a few bits of black still adhering to the flesh, it’s all flavour.

How to Make Harissa Paste – The paste.

Cut the stems from the chillies, split them open and remove the seeds and the white membrane holding them. Peel the garlic, and crush using the salt to make a smooth paste.

Add the chillies and garlic to a small food processor, followed by the peppers.

Add the tomato puree, salt, and spices to the machine, then process the contents to a smooth paste. Lift off the lid then work in the olive oil and lemon juice into the paste. Have a taste, it should linger in the mouth with each individual flavour coming through. If its not spicy enough for you, add a little cayenne pepper into the mix.

Storage.

The paste will keep a week in the fridge. Store it in a covered jar with a little olive oil covering the surface of the paste. I always keep some in the freezer, Ice cube trays are ideal for freezing. The cubes can then be stored in a freezer bag or box. If you need to make the paste, double the recipe so you have some to freeze. Double the joy, and you only have to clean up once!

F.A.Qs.

Enjoy Life!

John.

© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024