Romesco Sauce Recipe with Roasted Tomatoes and Nuts
Ben Goshawk
A traditional Catalan romesco sauce made with roasted tomatoes, onion and garlic, rehydrated dried chillies, toasted almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts, and dried bread. It is sweet, smoky, sour and salty all at once. Serve it with grilled fish, chicken, roasted vegetables, tapas or a slice of bread.
2 x ñora dried peppers / 2 x ancho chillies / 2 tsp sweet paprika
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
75g peeled almonds
50g hazelnuts
50g walnuts
2 slices of breadleft out to dry
75 ml extra virgin olive oil
20ml sherry vinegar
Saltto taste
Instructions
Take the tops off the ñoras or ancho chillies (or other dried) and empty out the seeds. Place them in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for about 30 minutes, until fully rehydrated.
Quarter the onion (leave the skin on if you can) and pierce the skin of the tomatoes a few times to prevent them from bursting. Place both on a tray or in an ovenproof dish with the garlic, still in its skin. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season lightly with salt and bunch everything together in the middle of the tray. Roast at 180°C for around 30 minutes, until everything has good roasted colour.
Roast the hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts on a tray for about 5 minutes, or until the hazelnut skins start to blister. Rub the hazelnuts in a clean cloth until most of the skin has come off.
Leave the roasted tomatoes, onion and garlic to cool until you can handle them, then remove the skins.
Into a blender add the rehydrated chilli, the hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds, the bread ripped into smaller pieces, the tomatoes, onion and garlic, a pinch of salt and the sherry vinegar. Blend until reasonably smooth.
Add the olive oil and pulse it in. Do not blend it too much, as it will go bitter. Taste and adjust with salt and sherry vinegar if needed.