Harissa Paste - a fiery Tunisian delight!

Add some spice to your meals and try our incredible harissa paste recipe. Great as a marinade, a steak rub or add to stews and salads. We will show you two versions – raw and roasted, which will you try?

Harissa is one of my family's favourite spice pastes, we use it a lot on barbecued lamb cutlets and roasted meats – sensational!

While it is now readily available from supermarkets (try the international food aisle) and delis we still like to make our own. This recipe is our version of this Tunisian hot chilli pepper paste.

What is Harissa Paste Made With

There are many versions of harissa, they all contain chillies, garlic, olive oils and various spices.

The spices can be salt, cumin, coriander, caraway seeds or a combination of any of the three. Some versions may also include some acid such as lemon juice or red wine vinegar.

Our version includes chillies, garlic, olive oil, cumin and coriander. 

What can I use Harissa on?

• Great on lamb cutlets with lemon 
• On roasted meats and poultry 
• Great to use as a rub on chicken wings
• Try it on roasted veg such as carrots, potatoes, cauliflower or broccoli
• Stir it through some yoghurt with lemon and fresh mint to use as a dip for crudités and pita bread
• Rub it on corn with oil and then grill or barbecue
• Stir it through pasta with prawns, cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs
• Use it in your next meatball mix 
• Add to bean or chickpea dishes
• Add it to dressings for bit of heat 

What's the difference between raw harissa and roasted harissa?

Roasted Harissa has an earthier richer taste than raw Harissa, and I will usually use it in things that do not require any additional cooking such as dips, dressings or to stir through dishes after they have been cooked.

I will use Raw Harissa when I am going to use it for cooking such as a rub for meat or when roasting veggies and meat in stews and soups. I find that the roasted harissa loses some of its flavours when added to dishes that require cooking.

How to make raw harissa

1. Wearing gloves (so you don’t burn yourself) slice your chillies in half lengthwise.
2. Remove the seeds by pushing them out with your finger or with a paring knife. For an extra hot and spicy harissa don’t remove the seeds.
3. Rinse them in a colander under cold running water.
4. Roughly chop them and pat them dry.
5. Add them to the bowl of your food processor with the remaining ingredients (we use just under a quarter of a cup of salt).
6. Blitz your paste well to combine and depending on the consistency you may need to add some more oil and water.
7. We deliberately keep our harissa paste on the dry side to use as a rub and if we need it a little runnier, then we will add some oil or water.

How to make roasted harissa

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/360F.
2. Place your spices in a lined baking tray, and use two separate sheets so that you can easily transfer them to a spice blender later on. You will need to grind them separately as they are different sizes.
3. Put your spices in your hot oven and roast until golden (approximately 10 minutes or so).
4. When cool add your spices to a spice grinder (separately) and grind them into a powder.
5. Wearing gloves (so you don’t burn yourself) slice your chillies in half lengthwise.
6. Remove the seeds by pushing them out with your finger or with a paring knife. For an extra hot and spicy harissa don’t remove the seeds.
7. Rinse them in a colander under cold runing water.
8. Place them on a lined baking tray with some oil and sea salt. Roast in a hot oven until soft (approximately 10-15 minutes).
9. Put the chillis in the bowl of your food processor with the remaining ingredients (we use just under a quarter of a cup of salt).
10. Blitz your paste well to combine and depending on the consistency you may need to add some more oil and water.
11. We deliberately keep our harissa pastes on the dry side to use as a rub and if we need it a little runnier, then we will add some oil or water.

We have used it on

• TOSSED SALAD WITH HARISSA DRESSING
• EGGPLANT SALAD WITH HARISSA

Recipe Card

Harissa

Add some spice to your meals and try our incredible harissa paste recipe. Great as a marinade, a steak rub or add to stews and salads. We show you two versions – raw and roasted, which will you try?

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

* Times are an estimate and will depend on your skill level

Course: Paste

Cuisine: Tunisian

Keyword: Easy

Servings: 48 teaspoons*

Calories: 30kcal

Ingredients

For the raw Harissa Paste

• 105 grams red chillies*
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• ½ cup ground coriander
• ⅓ cup ground cumin
• ⅔ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup salt not quite full

For the roasted Harissa Paste

• 320 grams red chillies*
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• ½ cup ground coriander
• ⅓ cup ground cumin
• 1 ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup salt not quite full

Instructions

For Raw Harissa

• Wearing gloves (so that you don’t burn yourself) slice your chillies in half lengthwise.
• Remove the seeds by pushing them out with your finger or with a paring knife. For an extra hot and spicy harissa don’t remove the seeds.
• Rinse them in a colander under cold tuning water.
• Roughly chop them and pat them dry.
• Add them to the bowl of your food processor with the remaining ingredients (we use just under a quarter of a cup of salt).
• Blitz your paste well to combine and depending on the consistency you may need to add some more oil and water.
• We deliberately keep our harissa paste on the dry side to use as a rub and if we need it a little runnier then we will add some oil or water.

For Roasted Harisssa

• Preheat your oven to 180°C/360°F.
• Place your spices in a lined baking tray, use two separate sheets so that you can easily transfer to a spice blender later on. You will need to grind them separately as they are different sizes.
• Put your spices in your hot oven and roast until golden (approximately 10 minutes or so).
• When cool add your spices to a spice grinder (separately) and grind into a powder.
• Wearing gloves (so that you don’t burn yourself) slice your chillies in half lengthwise.
• Remove the seeds by pushing them out with your finger or with a paring knife. For an extra hot and spicy harissa don’t remove the seeds.
• Rinse them in a colander under cold tuning water.
• Place them on a lined baking tray with some oil and sea salt. Roast in a hot oven until soft (approximately 10-15 minutes).
• Put the chillis in the bowl of your food processor with the remaining ingredients (we use just under a quarter of a cup of salt).
• Blitz your paste well to combine and depending on the consistency you may need to add some more oil and water.
• We deliberately keep our harissa pastes on the dry side to use as a rub and if we need it a little runnier then we will add some oil or water.

Notes

• The quantities in this recipe will make one small jar approximately 250ml consisting of approximately 48 teaspoons. The nutritional information is calculated for each teaspoon.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.

Calories: 30kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 590mg | Potassium: 18mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 21IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg

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