My favorite part of winter is what I like to call: Simmer Season – the time when everything gets slowly cooked on the stove and all warm and delicious, and this Harissa Simmered Artichokes Toast recipe is the perfect example of that!

And it’s not a stew, it’s a “simmer.” You first sear the artichoke hearts to get nice color on them, then let them slowly cook in a simple harissa broth to develop a lot of color and flavor. The texture is tender, but you counteract it with breadcrumbs on top and a crispy toast below. Add in some hummus and it’s a perfect easy weekday meal! Plus it’s just so cozy. Yet another reason to love simmer season!

First, what is harissa?
Ingredients you’ll need for these harissa simmered artichokes
How to prepare the artichoke hearts
How to put these harissa artichokes together
Tips & tricks on how to plate and store these harissa artichokes
Looking for similar recipes?
Watch the video here:

First, what is harissa?

I was first introduced to harissa in powder form, but it is actually a North African chili pepper paste, native to the Maghreb. It is made up of roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers (Tunisian chili peppers), various spices such as coriander, cumin, caraway, and then aromatics such as garlic paste. Like with most foods, it varies from region to region, but it’s always been a delicious addition to many of my meals and recipes.

Grocery stores are now making it easier and easier to find harissa, which is great for stocking your pantry and developing your kitchen! I like to use the Mina brand, and in this recipe I used the mild version.

Ingredients you’ll need for these harissa simmered artichokes

Now that you have the basics on harissa, here is everything else you need for this very simple recipe:

2 14 oz. cans of artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup mild harissa
1 & 1/2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable stock
3 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 small handful of fresh parsley & dill, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of hummus of choice
2 slices whole grain bread

How to prepare the artichoke hearts

The artichoke hearts add a lot of key textural interest to this recipe. And even if you don’t think you like artichoke hearts because of the “canned” flavor, this cooking method might help you change your mind!

I always recommend draining and rinsing artichoke hearts well, just to get out any excess salinity. From there, I put the sauté pan on medium heat, add a good glug of olive oil and sear the artichoke hearts on each side for about 2-3 minutes. This softens their already soft texture, gives them a beautiful golden brown color, and preps them for the rest of the recipe!

How to put these harissa artichokes together

From here on out, it’s time to simmer the artichoke hearts. This simply means mixing together the harissa, brown sugar, soy sauce, vegetable stock and 1/2 cup of water to make the simmer broth. Pour this over the artichokes and let it reduce by half. Then it’s time to put everything together!

Tips & tricks on how to plate and store these harissa artichokes

If you are prepping this recipe to eat at a later time, I recommend cooking the artichokes, but keeping all the other elements of the recipe separate until you are ready to eat! This means portioning out the breadcrumbs, artichokes, hummus and bread all into different containers, and storing them all in the fridge. This recipe will last up to 5 days stored separately, but I always suggest eating it when you can!

For plating, my biggest tip is that…you can eat these how you want! In this blog post I put these artichoke hearts on toast, but they are amazing with rice, with crispy chickpeas, on their own, or even as part of a salad or sandwich! Feel free to get creative with your base, the flavor will still always come through!

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Watch the video here:

And that’s it for these harissa-simmered artichoke hearts on toast!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you