Harissa Dressing

Fiery Harissa Dressing is fabulous drizzled over salads, falafel, roasted vegetables, meat and fish. Mixed with yogurt, hummus, tahini or mayo you can create a whole host of spicy dressings. Harissa Dressing also makes a great marinade for meat.

WHAT IS HARISSA?

Harissa is a fiery chilli paste from North Africa that’s becoming ever more popular in Britain. Particularly associated with Tunisia and Morocco, harissa is used to flavour soups, stews, sauces and couscous.

While the ingredients vary by region, there are a few constants. Pretty much every harissa will include chillies, garlic, olive oil and salt. Starting with these basic ingredients, each harissa is made individual by the addition of different spices like cumin or caraway and herbs which might include coriander or mint.

Other variations include tomatoes, roasted red peppers or rose petals – the latter creating a subtly perfumed harissa.

While harissa can be bought in jars, cans and tubes, it really isn’t difficult to make your own. Homemade harissa, and my Harissa Dressing, also allows you to tweak it according to your own taste and preferences, whether that be hotter, spicier, herbier or sweeter.

MY EASY HARISSA DRESSING

I prefer to think of my version of harissa as Harissa Dressing rather than a paste. That’s because I like a pour-able harissa to drizzle over salads, roasted vegetables, falafel, grilled or roasted meat and fish.

At the base of my Harissa Dressing are roasted peppers from a jar. I find that jarred peppers are a little too soft to eat chopped in a salad or similar, but they’re fine here. The peppers are going to be whizzed up with the rest of the ingredients anyway, so texture really doesn’t matter. Of course, feel free to roast fresh peppers, but the jarred kind can work out cheaper.

Dried peppers are often used in harissa so if you want to use those then soak for 30 minutes and drain before following the recipe.

As you’ll see on the recipe card at the end of this post, I like to use quite a lot of spice in my Harissa Dressing. I start by toasting whole spice seeds: coriander, cumin, fennel and caraway. After roughly grinding these, the rest of the ingredients are simply whizzed together to make the Harissa Dressing.

No doubt you’ll develop your own favourite harissa flavour and find the balance of spice, heat, sweetness and acidity that suites you. Personally, I like a little smokiness so include smoked paprika. A few dried rose petals add a very delicate floral note. But neither of these are compulsory, so play around and see what you like.

DRESSING FALAFEL, SALAD, VEGETABLES & MORE

For me, Harissa Dressing is an incredibly versatile sauce that will go with virtually anything where a chilli hit is required, be that vegetables, salads, burgers, kebabs or chops.

I love it drizzled over homemade falafel, either in a wrap or in a bowl with loads of salad and pickles. I think a creamy dressing alongside is a really good contrast so often serve tahini dressing as well.

As I’ve previously posted about, I love roasted vegetables which can be enlivened with different dressings and I think my Harissa Dressing would fit perfectly into that way of increasing your daily veg intake.

HARISSA DRESSING AS A MARINADE

Like harissa paste, Harissa Dressing works well as a marinade for meat. I’ve used it really successfully with Harissa Lamb Chops and chicken wings.

As with all marinades for meat the longer, the better. Twenty-four hours or overnight is ideal, but I’ve had good results with 2-3 hours.

All you do is coat the meat in plenty of the dressing, cover and leave in the fridge until ready to cook.

I roasted these incredibly tasty chops of mature lamb from Troutsdale Farm at quite a high heat. That allowed the water content in the marinade to evaporate off and leave behind a crusty, caramelized exterior to the meat while the inside remained tender and juicy.

These chicken wings from Packington Free Range were marinaded in exactly the same way. This time, I roasted more gently for the first half of the timing to ensure the meat was cooked through. Then I whacked up the heat to get that skin good and browned and starting to go sticky with spicy sweetness.

As always, but especially when using lots of spicing, buy the best quality meat you can afford to get the fullest flavour.

A BASE FOR MORE DISHES

With a batch of my Harissa Dressing you’ll have a spicy base from which to create a whole different range of sauces and dressings. Here’s just a few ideas of what to mix or serve it with:

• Spicy Tomato Sauce: add to basic tomato sauce for pasta or pizza bases
• Yogurt & Harissa Dressing: a lightly spiced dressing for grilled or fried fish
• Harissa Hummus: make chickpea dip more spicy and colourful
• Harissa Mayo: use on burgers, whether meat or veggie
• Tahini & Harissa Dressing: spicy & earthy. Great with vegetables, falafel or lamb

Print

Harissa Dressing

A fiery dressing for drizzling over salads, falafel, roasted vegetables, meat and fish. Combine it with yogurt, hummus, tahini or mayo for a whole host of dressings. Also a great marinade for meat.

Course sauce, dressing

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Keyword harissa, harissa dressing

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 large roasted red pepper de-seeded
• 1-3 chillies (to taste) de-seeded
• 2-3 cloves garlic (to taste) chopped
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried rose petals optional
• 0.5 lemon, juice only
• 0.5 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar, pomegranate molasses or honey
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 handful coriander leaf
• 1 handful mint leaves

Instructions

1. Put the coriander, cumin, fennel & caraway seeds in small frying pan and gently heat until they start to brown lightly and give off their aroma. Take off the heat.
   

2. Using a pestle and mortar or rolling pin, roughly crush the seeds.
   

3. Transfer all the ingredients, including the crushed seeds, but not the chopped coriander and mint, to a food processor or blender. Whizz until it's your preferred smoothness.
   

4. Taste and add more chilli, smoked paprika, sweetener, salt etc. if you think it needs it.
   

5. Add the coriander and mint then whizz briefly to incorporate the herbs through the harissa without blending them entirely.
   

6. Will keep in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days.