diy delight : harissa

I don't know about you, but I am not coping well with winter. Hailing from snow-capped Utah, I feel slightly embarrassed admitting Sydney winter is getting to me; I blame the lack of central heating and poor insulation in my gorgeous (but old) apartment block.

One tactic I'm using to stay warm is cooking soups and stews. Tonight I'm going to make this Moroccan Vegetable Stew I spotted in the weekend paper - my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Thanks, Bill, for the Veggie Stew recipe! So many recipes
in the weekend papers feature meat. This is hearty, healthy,
eco-friendly recipe was a pleasant surprise.

One of the ingredients in the stew is harissa. I didn't have any on hand, and I try and avoid buying packaged foods when I can help it, so I googled a recipe to make my own version of this warming, zesty chili paste. I found a very simple harissa recipe courtesy of SBS, and was able to whip it together in just under 30 minutes.

I loved this simple recipe with only 7 ingredients.

Taking out the chilli seeds was the most time consuming aspect of this recipe. I also included fewer than the half-the-seeds in the recipe; these chillies were fairly spicy and I can't take too much heat.

Not too much of a mess was made for this culinary creation.

Because both my hubby and I hate to waste packaging, nearly every time we buy something in a jar we wash it and keep it for later use. Typically the jars get filled with food from the Manly Co-op (strictly BYO packaging at the Co-op) . . .

Here's a shelf from my pantry - one jar filled with Co-op tahini,
another with dried chickpeas - I wonder if my hubby is dropping
a hint for me to make homemade hummus?

. . . but today one of the jars got filled with my homemade harissa.

The finished product

This harissa tastes delish, packs a punch and is packaging free. Do you make any sauces or special seasonings from scratch? I'd love to hear your recipes!

Stay warm out there my friends.
xxLisa