Spicy Harissa Hummus with Olives and Homemade Pitas

I’ve been a fan of harissa ever since my honeymoon in France where we ate Moroccan olives flavored with the Tunisian chili paste. I love how it spices up a dish and gives it a nice, smoky flavor. Today I made a spicy harissa hummus drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with chili flakes. It was amazing!

Lately, I’ve been making more of an effort to incorporate beans into my diet and hummus is a great way to do this. It’s perfect for snacking and is a wonderful way to transform chickpeas into a delicious dip. You can serve it with celery, carrots, fresh pitas, pita chips, or any other tasty chip or vegetable.

This spicy harissa hummus is really easy to make, especially if you use canned chickpeas. Just put all the ingredients in a food processor, blend and serve; make sure to drizzle a little olive oil over the top and garnish with chickpeas and chili flakes, if desired.

If you make the harissa from scratch, it will take a little more time because you have to rehydrate the peppers, remove the seeds and stems and make it into a paste with garlic, olive oil, salt, and spices. However, it’s worth the extra effort, especially if you don’t have an easily available source of harissa. Making it yourself also allows you to control the spiciness and yields extra, so you’ll have it around for future batches of hummus, as a sauce over eggs, as a spread, or for Moroccan olives.

Spicy Harissa Hummus Topped with Olive Oil, Chickpeas and Chili Flakes

I hope you enjoy this spicy harissa hummus and if you want another hummus recipe (you can never have too many), check out my recipe for red pepper hummus—it was one of my first blog posts on Flavorful Journeys! If you have a favorite type of hummus, let me know in the comments.

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Spicy Harissa Hummus Recipe

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Serves	8
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Appetizer, Snack
From magazine	adapted from Bon Appetit

This spicy harissa hummus is really easy to make. Just put all the ingredients in a food processor, blend and serve.

Ingredients

• 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2-3 tablespoons harissa paste
• salt
• olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes, and warm pita (for serving)

Note

Hummus can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Directions

Step 1

Set aside 2 tablespoons chickpeas for serving. Process tahini, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons harissa, and remaining chickpeas in a food processor, adding water as needed, until hummus is very smooth; season with salt. Taste the hummus and add the additional harissa, if you want it spicier.

Step 2

Serve hummus drizzled with olive oil and topped with red pepper flakes and reserved chickpeas, with pita bread alongside.