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Black Olives with Harissa

Marinated black olives in a spicy harissa paste.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,665 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Black Olives with Harissa

Time4 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the olives

  1. Rinse olives under cold water for 1 minute in a colander.

  2. Place olives in a large bowl and cover with cold water.

  3. Soak olives for 4 hours to remove excess salt, then drain well.

Roast the pepper

  1. Using a long‑handled fork, char peppers over an open flame or on a rack set over an electric burner, turning, until skins are blackened, 4 to 6 minutes; or broil peppers on a broiler pan about 2 inches from heat, turning every 5 minutes, until skins are blistered and charred.

  2. Transfer peppers to a bowl and let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle.

  3. Peel peppers, starting at blossom end, keeping peppers whole.

  4. Cut off pepper tops and discard seeds and ribs.

Make the harissa

  1. Grind cumin, coriander, and caraway seeds finely in a mortar with pestle, electric spice grinder, or cleaned coffee grinder.

  2. If using mortar and pestle, add chilies, garlic, and salt, then pound to taste.

  3. If using a grinder, transfer seeds to a small food processor, add chilies, garlic, and salt, then grind to a paste.

  4. Add roasted pepper and olive oil, then pound or purée to a coarse paste.

Marinate and serve

  1. Stir together harissa and olives in a large bowl.

  2. Marinate covered and chilled for at least 6 hours or overnight.

  3. Prepare olives up to 1 week ahead, keeping chilled and covered.

  4. Serve olives at room temperature.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

158Calories
1 gProtein
14 gFat
7 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 9 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Olive1 large (4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Harissanot in our table0
Coriandernot in our table0
Seednot in our table0
Caraway Seednot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Coriander + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Coriander + carawaytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together185 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  5. Coriander + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,949 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Oil-cured black olives
Provide the main flavor and salty, meaty texture that the harissa seasons.
Hot red dried chilies
Supply heat and a smoky, fruity chili flavor to the harissa.
Garlic cloves
Add pungent, savory aroma that deepens the paste.
Red bell pepper
Adds sweetness, body and moisture to the coarse paste.
Olive oil
Carries the spice flavors and gives the paste a smooth, rich fat.

The step that matters

Soaking the olives. Soaking for the full 4 hours draws out excess salt from the cured olives; skipping or shortening it leaves the marinated olives too salty.

Swap the harissa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, coriander, caraway, garlic, clove, pepper):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Harissathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, coriander, caraway, garlic, clove, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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