Homemade Harissa (Spicy Red Pepper Sauce).

So, I had this whole delicious lunch for you guys.

Or breakfast or in my case dinner,  but then this sauce happened and since this said lunch includes this Harissa sauce I felt I had to share this first.

But, I am making it known that you have a very, no highly delicious, meal coming your way and I am jumping out of my skin to share it with you. But not tomorrow, and I think we all know why it is not happening tomorrow.

So predictable.

Now that I think about it though, posting this sauce today is kind of perfect.

I mean, with tomorrow being Valentine’s Day you may be looking to spice things up a little, and this sauce (or some people would say paste) is spicy. Spicy and really good, so do not get freaked out by the heat. You just need to mix it with something to help tame the heat a little. Although, I know it is also used like salsa and eaten with chips. If hot is your thing, using it as salsa would be great too.

If you have never heard of Harissa it is a spicy sauce used in a lot of Moroccan cooking. Typically it is used  as a garnish, with eggs, or sometimes it can be mixed into dishes too. To be honest, this is the first time I have even tried Harissa. I have been wanting to for forever, but my lame small town grocery store does not carry any.

I ordered some on Amazon, but with all the snow we had last week it was not delivered on time and I really wanted it. So, I figured I would just make my own and I cannot believe how easy it was. It is really just a bunch of peppers all tossed together. The total prep time is only thirty five minutes – and thirty of those minutes come from letting the dried chiles soak in water. The rest of the work is all done in the food processor (or blender).

Easy peasy.

I made the sauce, made my lunchy thingy that I cannot wait to tell you all about and then……

There was a knock on the door.

Yup.

Of course, the sauce shows up the minute I am finished. Story of my life.

Whatever, like I said, I love my homemade version. Plus, it makes me feel all cool that I made my own Harissa sauce.

I mean, homemade always trumps the store. Ok, well unless the homemade version takes like days or something to make, in which case maybe the store bought is sometimes ok. But if you can go the homemade route… do it. Bonus, in the long run it usually ends up being like half the price!

Oh, and if you are wondering, this is about as spicy as it is going to get around here this Valentine’s Day. Me and my sauce have a little date with some runny eggs….and chocolate. Duh.

You know, some people say being single on Valentines Day is the worst, but for me, it just means more of the good stuff. That and I just have zero time in my life right now for a boyfriend. I say, me first then the guy.

Or maybe me, some chocolate… and then the guy.