Romesco Sauce

Circle B Kitchen

Adapted from the Tasting Table

A little about romesco...

Romesco sauce is Spanish in origin and is used there as a sauce for simmering seafood as well as a condiment for meat, chicken, eggs or grilled veggies. I haven’t found anything yet that didn’t love a bit romesco with it. Last night I made a pizza with romesco sauce, and Italian sausage and it was killer. Our favorite application so far has been serving it with seared scallops (see post photo). That was simply amazing. It’s also really good with pasta and shrimp and as a topping for crostini. If you’re pressed for time, you can use canned tomatoes instead of fresh and roasted red peppers from a jar. This will save you some time and effort, but probably cost you some in the flavor department. Enjoy!

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled and seeded

1 clove garlic, smashed

3 tablespoons almonds, toasted

3 tablespoons skinned hazelnuts, toasted

1 tablespoon aged sherry vinegar

2 teaspoons dried chile flakes (more or less as desired)

1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón)

5 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 teaspoon salt

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook until soft and saucy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool a bit.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the almonds and hazelnuts until ground fairly fine. Add the sherry vinegar, chile flakes, salt and smoked paprika until it forms a coarse paste. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil, tomatoes and roasted peppers and continue pulsing until a coarse sauce forms.

Note: the original recipe had the garlic going in the food processor raw with the almonds and hazelnuts. If you would like a sharper garlic flavor, this would be a good option. I liked cooking the garlic with the tomatoes first which not only flavored the tomatoes, but softened the garlic. Your call.