Sunday, January 16, 2011

harissa paste


























I started eating large quantities of harissa around the time I first tried Heidi Swanson's recipe for harissa spaghettini, a simple but oh-so-delicious spicy pasta dish with kale and olives that has since become a weekly staple in my diet. As a result, I keep bulk amounts of harissa spice mix in the cupboards at all times so that I'm always prepared for an impromptu feast. Initially however, I ran into the problem of finding harissa paste, so I started making my own simple version out of spices, a little olive oil, lemon, and garlic.



When making the spice mix, it's best to use whole spices and grind them yourself, but to be perfectly honest I think it's still pretty packed with flavor if you don't. This recipe results in a paste that is less thick than a traditional paste and doubles as an exotic olive oil dip for your table bread.

harissa spice blend

Ingredients
1T caraway seeds
1T cumin
1T coriander
1T paprika
1T dried mint
1T salt
1/4 cup red pepper flakes


Method
Blend ingredients in a blender or crush to combine using a mortar and pestle.


harissa paste

Ingredients
1T harissa spice mixture (above)
2 T olive oil
1 clove garlic
peel of half a lemon

Method
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or ramekin.


3 comments:

Rochelle said...

These spices look wonderful, but I am way too lazy to grind them myself! :)

Mirabella said...

Oh Rochelle I will give them to you self ground!

Micheal Alexander said...

Thank you for your articles that you have shared with us. Hopefully you can give the article a good benefit to us. Harissa spice