Harissa might be my favorite new thing in my pantry. It’s a North African chili sauce/paste – depending on what you buy, I guess. Mine came in a tube. I know I’ve had it before outside of my house, and it seems like more and more recipes call for it, so I’ve been wanting to play with it for a while. I finally shelled out for some (a whole $2!) at the middle eastern grocery across the street from my workplace when Dave and I decided on making a lamb stew.

Harissa is hot sauce on a whole different level – booming with lots and lots of heat, but full of complex flavors that really shine when the paste/sauce is added to a full cast of ingredients. That’s what made it perfect for this recipe – it played perfectly with the sweetness of our homegrown tomatoes and the richness of the lamb, rounding all of the flavors out for a hugely satisfying dinner. Think of it like the belt or scarf that ties all the items in an outfit together. I am still daydreaming about that meal – we served it with fresh pita, too.

I can’t wait to try using the paste in more things – I particularly have some Thanksgiving applications in mind.

The only comment I do have about it is that the paste that we bought is QUITE hot, and we are a hot sauce household, so we are no strangers to heat. When buying and using for the first couple of times, I would recommend adding it in very small amounts to make sure that you don’t over-spice your food.

Here’s what you need:

1 tablespoon neutral oil
1 small or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. ground lamb or lamb sausage
3/4 teaspoon salt
4-6 medium tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
2 tsp. harissa
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Yogurt sauce:
1/2 cup plain or Greek yogurt
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
1 tbsp. fresh mint

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic and saute until softened.

Add in the ground lamb and brown the meat. When the meat is browned, add the tomatoes, chickpeas, harissa and cinnamon. Stir together and cook, still on medium heat, until the tomatoes have broken down and created a tomatoey broth around everything else. Toss in the fresh mint about five minutes before serving.

To make the yogurt sauce, simply stir together all four ingredients until the lemon juice is incorporated into the yogurt.

Serve the stew in bowls and top with the mint sauce. Garnish with more mint leaves, if you like.