Homemade Harissa Paste with Dried Chiles

Ingredients

• 2 dried guajillo chiles
• 1 dried ancho chile
• 5-6 dried chiles de arbol
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (chopped )
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus additional if needed)

Instructions

1. 1

   Break the chiles open. Remove the stems and shake out most of the seeds and discard. Put the chiles in a bowl along with the sun-dried tomatoes and cover with boiling water. Let it all soak until soft and pliable, up to 30 minutes depending on how dry they are.

2. 2

   Put the chiles in a small food processor along with the remaining ingredients. Process to form a relatively smooth paste, adding more olive oil if the paste seems too thick to blend. Taste and season with additional salt, vinegar or lemon juice if you like.

3. 3

   Transfer the harissa to a tightly covered container such as a glass jar. Store in the refrigerator up to one month.