Harissa is a spice paste from North Africa. It fires you up at first bite, but it softens later on and shows some garlicky notes that makes it versatile for different dishes, including stew (hello, shakshuka), bread, burger patties, seafood and the like. You can also mix it with citrus like lemon or orange for a refreshing dressing for vegetables, seafood and grilled meat, or as an ingredient for stew or soup.
Salmon works well with harissa because the fish's natural oiliness tempers the fiery heat of harissa. You can get harissa paste from the local deli, but if this is not possible, you can easily make your own harissa paste by blending red pepper, birds eye chilli, coriander, cumin, caraway, onion, garlic, olive oil, tomato paste, lemon juice and salt in a food processor. If you don't have time to do this, you can substitute other chili condiments in your pantry to use as a spice dressing for this baked salmon dish, like sriracha, or a homemade mix of garlic chilli oil with minced ginger and garlic. Sriracha has a more straightforward flavour profile and is versatile with almost any dish, when you want some tartness and heat.
Baking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons harissa paste*
1 orange, juice and zest
Grated ginger
Green onions
Garlic cloves
Marble potatoes
4 salmon fillets or a mix of salmon belly
Just double the measurement if you're cooking for more.
To make the harissa paste:
1 red pepper
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 birds-eye chilli, seeded and coarsely chopped
1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend all ingredients together to make the harissa paste.
1. In a small bowl, mix harissa, orange juice and zest, grated ginger and onions. Marinate it in salmon fillet.
2. Put marble potatoes and garlic cloves on a baking pan. Coat with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.
3. Remove baking pan. Add salmon, broccoli and tomatoes. Slather on remaining harissa-orange dressing on vegetables. Bake for another 15 minutes.
