Merguez sausage is a beef or lamb spiced sausage from North Africa and it's freaking delicious. Usually it's made with cumin, garlic and harissa along with other house spices. For this recipe I used inspiration from a Daniel Boulud dish you can find here with a Food & Wine recipe here, and of course my own additions.
Ingredients
1 pound merguez sausage, already in links or cut into 5-inch lengths
1 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground paprika
1/2 tsp whole cumin
1/2 tsp whole all spice
1/2 tsp whole coriander
1/2 tsp peppercorns
3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tsp Harissa
1 shallot
1 lime
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons finely shredded mint leaves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°. Get a large ovenproof sauté pan over med heat and add the whole spices, coriander, all spice, peppercorns and cumin (add the cumin last, it toasts the quickest). Toast the spices ocationally shaking the pan till they are aromatic about 3 min. Pour the spices into your grinder and blend.
Next, turn the heat up to med high and add 2 tbsp. olive oil to your now empty ovenproof pan. Add the merguez and cook, turning occasionally, until browned all over, about 5 - 7 minutes. Transfer the merguez to a plate.
Add the red onion, garlic, paprika and spice mix and cook over moderate heat for about 3 minutes. Add spinach and cook an additional 5 min. Stir in the drained chickpeas and season with salt and pepper. Return the merguez and any juices to the skillet. Add the chicken stock. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 400, until the merguez is cooked through.
Meanwhile add harissa and 1/2 tsp of salt to the yogurt. Grate in half a shallot and zest half a lime into it. Add shredded mint leaves, mix everything and taste. If you want it spicier, add more harissa.
Spoon the chickpeas and spinach into bowls and top with the merguez sausage. Spoon the yogurt over the top and serve.
