If you like bold, spicy flavors, this unique pasta dish is for you! Jumpstart your tastebuds and enjoy this Italian-Tunsian fusion when you’re in the mood for something a little different.
Harissa is a traditional North African chili paste that has a deeper depth of flavor than your usual hot sauce. Some blends have hints of lemon, caraway, or even mint, along with roasted hot chili peppers, garlic, and oil. It is usually sold in your grocer’s spice or Middle Eastern aisle.
For this recipe, we recommend buying harissa in paste form. Since the spice levels can vary by brand, we suggest starting with only 1 tablespoon and increase as desire. Briny olives and capers compliment the dish’s heat, while a squeeze of lemon and fresh parsley temper its intensity. We love orecchiette in this recipe, but feel free to use any small pasta shape.
We think this dish tastes best at room temperature, but enjoy it hot or cold. Have you every used harissa before? Let us know in the comments!
Harissa Orecchiette with Black Olives and Capers
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion thinly sliced
- 1–2 tablespoons harissa paste
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ cup pitted black olives
- ½ cup capers
- 1 pound dried orecchiette
- ¼ cup parsley roughly chopped
- Lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Sauté onion in olive oil for 8 minutes, stirring every once in a while, until soft and caramelized.
- Add the harissa, tomatoes, olives, capers and a pinch of salt and continue cooking for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes start to break down.
- Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook orecchiette according to package instructions.
- Mix pasta with harissa sauce. Serve with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.