Greek Inspired Harissa-style Hot Chilli Sauce To Go With Olives

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Greek Inspired Harissa-style Hot Chilli Sauce To Go With Olives
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If you like olives and wished it could be spiced up to taste more exciting, this fresh tasting sauce is the one to try! It is a simple mix of tomatoes, red bell pepper, fresh chillies with a touch of spices but it works wonderfully to complement salty savoury olives.

Whilst holidaying at the picturesque island of Santorini, we ensconced ourselves at the Grace Santorini's, 'The Villa'. 

Screen shot of 'The Villa' taken from Grace Santorini's website. Stay here
and everything you see, the pool, extended balcony with more loungers 
plus even more pampering facilities are for your exclusive use. Coupled
with an amazing crew who will bend over backwards to take 
care of every need, you won't want to leave.

We had our own wait staff, the most capable Christina. So eager was she to attend to us, she refused to let us even refill our own wine glasses. And, if you ever motioned towards the kitchen, she would say earnestly, "Please, I am here to serve you. Tell me what you need". She is endearing. 

One evening, while we were all seated down for dinner and having animated conversions amongst ourselves, everyone of us suddenly fell unexpectedly silent. Why? 

Our eyes had caught sight of a fiery red coloured chilli sauce that was dressed over black olives. Christina was just about to set it on the table. We all knew it was going to be good even if it looked ridiculously simple. You have to understand, everyone at that table loves food and we know good food when we see it. 

Grace Santorini's black olives dressed with their fantastic Greek style harissa.

This hot chilli pepper dressing had an almost loose viscosity. The texture was in between a sauce and a dressing. The flavours were fresh. It was not over spiced and the heat level was just right. Besides the chillies, I could taste tomatoes and there was some underlying herbs which I just could not make out then. It went very well with the salty savoury olives. 

The chef was summoned and quizzed. Unfortunately, I could not quite understand him. He said it was like a harissa. I was able to gather that there were tomatoes, red peppers, chillies, coriander and that's about all I understood. Chef Spyros, I am patiently waiting for your recipe and the one for that lovely black bread of yours.

Grace Santorini's breads are filled with the most unusual mix of grains and
cereals. Not only are they always flavourful, they are invariably soft and delicate.
I particularly like the 'black bread' although I haven't a clue what it is made from.
I am waiting for Chef Spyros to tell me the secret! 

The recipe below comes pretty close to what we enjoyed that evening.  As it has a dip/dressing/sauce-like consistency, I can think of multiple uses for it. Enjoyed as a dip. Over grilled fish. I am going to try it on some linguini soon and serve them in tiny, tiny portions as a cold starter.

This is the first in a series of 10 meze recipes that were inspired by my recent holiday in Greece. Click here, Greek Meze, Another Selection Of Wonderful Little Bites. For your easy reference, scroll down to the end of the post and you will find a table spread of all the 10 meze, the names of the meze and links to recipes that I have already posted.

GREEK INSPIRED HARISSA-LIKE HOT CHILLI SAUCE TO GO WITH OLIVES

Prep:	~ 10 minutes
Cook:	10 minutes
Inactive:	-
Level:	Easy
Makes:	3/4 cup
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Keep well up to 5 days refrigerated.

Just the ingredients ~ 2 medium size (14.10oz)(400g) ripest tomatoes  1.5" strip of (0.98oz)(28g) red bell pepper ~ 3 fresh (0.98oz)(28g) red chillies  1 clove garlic  1/8 teaspoon coriander powder Pinch of cinnamon powder 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 +1/8 teaspoon salt 1/4 +1/8 teaspoon white wine vinegar Extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients

~ 2 medium size (14.10oz)(400g) ripest tomatoes 

1.5" strip of (0.98oz)(28g) red bell pepper

~ 3 fresh (0.98oz)(28g) red chillies 
1 clove garlic 

1/8 teaspoon coriander powder
Scroll down to 'Tips' to find out what else you could cook to help use up the bottle of coriander powder
Pinch of cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 +1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 +1/8 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil

Method 

Get a kettle of water boiling.

Score the bottom of the tomatoes with an "X".  Place the tomatoes, the strip of red pepper, chillies and peeled garlic in a deep bowl. Pour boiling water over them to cover.

After 5 minutes, drain off the water. Peel and discard the tomato skins and cut tomatoes into chunks. Dice up the red pepper. Either leave the chillies whole if you want your sauce to be on the spicy side or cut and remove the seeds for a milder tasting sauce.

Puree the tomatoes, red pepper, chillies and garlic and decant into a pot for frying.

Place the pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil, stirring on occasions to prevent the sauce from burning. Stir in the salt, sugar, coriander and cinnamon powder and reduce the sauce until most of the liquid has evaporated. It should look similar to the sauce below. It takes me about 10 minutes. 

Taste and adjust seasoning. Now, add the white wine vinegar and taste. You may need more or less vinegar depending on how sour or sweet the tomatoes are.

To begin with, the sauce should be fresh tasting. It should be sufficiently spicy hot, more sour than sweet and you should not be able to taste the garlic, coriander or cinnamon powder. The star of this harissa-like sauce are the tomatoes, chillies and red pepper.

To serve, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil, on your serving vessel. Add a little of the harissa-like sauce, place the olives on it and drizzle with a little more sauce. 

Watch your guests' eyes widened with interest as you serve this to them.

Tips

• Here are 2 recipes that you could try out to help use up the bottle of coriander powder

Beef Kafta - Lebanese Meatballs
Tired of dry and hard meat balls? Try my recipe for these well flavoured, soft and moist meatballs.

Crispy Gluten and Egg Free Corn Fritters
If like fresh corn but I like these crispy corn fritters better. See those whole nuggets of corn? Once you bite into the fritters, those corn nuggets taste like little burst of creamy sugar!

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                             

Tomato Balls! These are very popular in Santorini, Greece where the tomatoes grown are famous for being small, thick skinned and sweet.

My table of Greek inspired meze!

First row. Left to right: Slow Cooked Octopus In A Sherry Vinegar Garlic Marinade, Moussaka - Baked Casserole Of Eggplants, Tomatoey Meat Topped With A Creamy White Sauce, Santorini Fava A Delicious Yellow Split Peas Dip, Marinated Grilled Peppers With Fig Balsamic Cream

Second row. Left to right: Greek Inspired Harissa-style Hot Chilli Sauce To Go With Olives, 5 Minutes Grilled Cheese Meze, Santorini Tomatoey Tomato Balls/Fritters

Third row. Left to right: Crispy Whitebait And Sweet Onions Disk, Pork Souvlaki Kebabs Skewers, Tzatziki A Cucumber Yogurt Dip,  Oh So Soft Pita Bread