Harissa

Preparation Place the pepper under a very hot broiler, turning occasionally for about 25 minutes, until blackened on the outside and completely soft. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to cool. Peel the pepper and discard its skin and seeds. Place a dry frying pan over low heat and lightly toast the coriander, cumin, and caraway seeds for 2 minutes. Remove them to a mortar and use a pestle to grind to a powder. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, and fry the onion, garlic, and chiles for 10 to 12 minutes, until a dark smoky color and almost caramelized. Now use a blender or a food processor to blitz together all of the paste ingredients until smooth, adding a little more oil if needed. Store in a sterilized jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or even longer. Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Copyright © 2012 by Yotam Ottoloenghi and Sami Tamimi; food photographs copyright © 2012 by Jonathan Lovekin. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Yotam Ottolenghi owns an eponymous group of restaurants with four branches in London, plus a high-end restaurant, Nopi, also in London. His 2011 cookbook, Plenty, was a New York Times bestseller. Sami Tamimi is a partner and head chef at Ottolenghi and coauthor of Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.