Libyan Fish in Tomato Sauce with homemade harissa

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Tomato sauce

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes, stirring, until the onion turns golden.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 3
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
4. 4
   Soak the dried peppers 30 minutes in hot water, drain and remove the seeds.

   Bowl
5. 5
   Grind the peppers in a food processor with the garlic, salt and black pepper.

   Food processor

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
6. 6
   Add the oil in a thin stream, while Tahini, until a smooth paste.

   Food processor

   💡The thin stream is everything: fat that goes in too fast can't bind, and the sauce breaks. For mayonnaise and hollandaise, if this happens, start with a fresh yolk and slowly add the broken sauce to it; if the sauce is too thick, thin it with a teaspoon of water.
7. 7
   Add the harissa, cumin, smoked paprika and turmeric and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   Stove
8. 8
   Add the harissa, cumin, smoked paprika and turmeric and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

To assemble

1. 9
   Pat the fish pieces dry with paper towels and place it in the sauce, skin side down, and spoon some of the sauce over it. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 12–15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily.

   StoveLid

   💡Pat the fish dry and don't overcook it: wet fish thins the sauce, and overcooked fish dries out and falls apart.
2. 10
   Turn off the heat and sprinkle the cilantro over the top.
3. 11
   Serve with bread.