Harissa-inspired Sauce (makes about 1/4 cup)

harissa-inspired sauce

After work my husband and I drove to Ogunquit, a quaint popular coastal town in Maine. We wanted to walk along the ocean and check out the town since it has been a while since we last visited. Before heading home we ate some tapas at one of the restaurants. One of the tasty dishes we ordered was octopus and duck with a harissa sauce. Typically this sauce is made with various ingredients such as chili peppers, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, garlic, and lemon juice. Below is my my version of this sauce using ingredients I have in my kitchen. 

cooked sauce ready to be pureed

Harissa-inspired Sauce (makes about 1/4 cup)

Ingredients:

About 3 Tbsp olive oil
About 1/2 tsp ground cumin
About 1/2 tsp  ground black or white pepper
About 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (add more if you prefer more heat)
2 garlic cloves, smashed, chopped
About 2 Tbsp chopped shallot
1 tomato, deseeded, chopped
A few pinches of salt
A pinch of sugar
About 5 fresh mint leaves, julienned

Method:

Heat oil in a small pan. Add cumin and peppers. Saute about 30 seconds. Add garlic and shallot. Saute about a minute. Add tomato and cook for about 1-2 minutes until everything is soft. Season with salt and sugar. Remove from heat and let cool. Puree the cooked sauce with mint leaves until everything is blended.