Spicy Tunisian Fish in Tomatoes with homemade harissa

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Tomato sauce

1. 1
   Soak the dried peppers 30 minutes in hot water, drain and remove the seeds.

   Bowl
2. 2
   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.)
3. 3
   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.
4. 4
   In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, paprika, cumin and black pepper with the salt.

   StoveFrying pan
5. 5
   Add the red pepper and green pepper and fry 5 minutes, until the peppers soften.

   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.
6. 6
   Add the harissa, cumin, 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. 7
   Add the lemon juice to the bubbling sauce.
2. 8
   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 10–12 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.
3. 9
   Turn off the heat and sprinkle the cilantro over the top.
4. 10
   Serve hot with bread or couscous.