Quick Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
As I get older in life I find myself gravitating to really good, yet simple food. While I say simple – I don’t mean to say bland. I mean very well seasoned food that is accompanied by condiments or sauces that enhance the beauty of the well cooked food.
I love Spanish cooking and I love grilled foods. In my mind there are few foods that go better together than a rustic, ruddy-hued all-purposed sauce from Catalonia than wish grilled fish, poultry, and vegetables. In northeastern Spain eating the seasonal grilled onions called calçots with romesco is a sin.
With that being said, there is no standard recipe or even ingredient list for romesco. This is one of the best romesco’s I have ever had, and to a true homage to Spring and Summer grilling this sauce is made in a blender. That’s right a blender and it only takes five minutes to make.
- 1/2 slice of white sandwich bread, hearty not wonder bread, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts, (you can substitute almonds) toasted and skinned
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1 cup jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed and patted dry (you can make these yourself)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- In a large skillet over medium heat add the read, nuts and 1 tablespoon of the oil and allow to come to heat. Cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, this will take about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the bread and nuts to a food processor or blender and pulse until it is coarsely chopped, use about 5 pulses. Then add the red peppers, vinegar, honey, paprika, salt, cayenne and the remaining oil. Pulse again until it is finely chopped, another 5 pulses. Transfer this blender mixture and allow to stand for at least 10 minutes.
- This sauce can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. Just seal in an air-tight container and allow to refrigerate.
