Romesco Sauce Recipe
-
Category
Summer
-
Cusine
American
What do you need?
How to make?
Ingredients
2 or 3 tomatoes
1 medium head garlic, unpeeled, split in half
1 ounce ; see note
1 slice toasted or stale bread , any thick and heavy crusts removed, bread broken into small pieces
1 tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar, plus more if desired
1/2 cup skinned and toasted almonds and/or hazelnuts ; see note
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if desired
Kosher salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place tomatoes and half of the garlic head on it. Roast in the oven until tomatoes are wrinkled and lightly charred in spots and garlic is soft, about 1 hour. Let cool. Meanwhile, place dried peppers in a medium heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Place a weight or wet paper towel on top to help submerge the peppers. Let stand until peppers are fully softened, 30 minutes to 1 hour. If the peppers are very stubborn , you may need to tear a small hole in them to let water penetrate inside. Drain peppers and discard stems and seeds. Using a paring knife, carefully scrape the flesh from the skins. Discard skins. Peel skins from tomatoes and roasted garlic.
Add 3 cloves roasted garlic and 1 or 2 cloves skinned raw garlic to the mortar. Smash garlic to a paste with the pestle. Add bread and moisten with vinegar. Smash to a paste. Add nuts and smash as finely as you can. The mixture should have the consistency of a rough paste when you're done. Smash in the scraped pepper flesh, followed by the skinned roasted tomatoes. Mix in olive oil until thoroughly combined. Season with salt. Add more oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, if a thinner, richer sauce is desired. Add more vinegar to taste as well.
Add 3 cloves roasted garlic and 2 cloves skinned raw garlic to the jar of a blender, or blending container if using an immersion blender. Add nuts. Blend until finely processed, scraping down sides as necessary. Blend in skinned roasted tomatoes and scraped pepper flesh. Add bread, olive oil, and vinegar, and blend until smooth. Season with salt and add more oil and vinegar to taste, if desired.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine 3 cloves roasted garlic and 2 cloves skinned raw garlic , along with bread and nuts. Process, scraping down sides as necessary, until finely chopped. Add skinned roasted tomatoes and scraped pepper flesh and process until a thick, rough paste forms. Process in olive oil and vinegar, then season with salt. Add more vinegar and olive oil, as desired, to adjust taste and texture.