The flavor of Romesco sauce is difficult to describe –sweet, smoky, spicy, rich, a bit like a Catalan version of a Mexican mole. Like a mole, it transforms simple food into extraordinarily flavorful dishes. Unlike a good mole, though, which takes hours to make properly, you can whip up an excellent Romesco in a few minutes. I like to make it early in the day, or even the day before I use it, and then pull out this culinary magic trick to create a memorable meal in just a few minutes.
Romesco is excellent with fish, seafood or poultry, either slathered on directly as a sauce or used as a cooking liquid. (I’ve included a favorite recipe for Halibut with Romesco here.) It also makes a wonderful condiment for side dishes such as grilled vegetables or simple roasted or boiled potatoes.
There are many variations of Romesco, but all seem to include the basic ingredients of nuts (usually almonds), roasted red peppers, olive oil and garlic. Variations include chiles, onions, dry bread, vinegars, paprika, tomatoes, and, I’m sure, many other favorite or local ingredients, so feel free to experiment. The following is just my current favorite Romesco.
Recipe
Ingredients
1 large tomato (about 9 ounces)
1/2 cup husked toasted hazelnuts or almonds (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped drained piquillo peppers from jar or can (Piquillo peppers are available at some good grocery and specialty stores (including Trader Joe’s, for a very good price), and online at www.tienda.com. If you can’t find them, roasted red bell peppers will do.)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped (2 small cloves — more can be overpowering here)
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika (but no more –this can easily overwhelm the other flavors)
1 teaspoon Sherry wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
1. Under the broiler on a rimmed baking sheet, roast the tomato until the skin is blistered and separates from the flesh, turning once. (This will take about 3 minutes. When it’s cool enough to handle, slip off the skin, halve the tomato and scoop out and discard the seeds.
2. In a hot oven (450F) or in a skillet, toast the hazelnuts until they are fragrant and the skins loosen. Rub off the skins in a kitchen towel. (Don’t worry about getting off every bit of skin.) If you’re using raw almonds, you’ll need to immerse them in boiling water for a few seconds to loosen the skin. After you’ve done so, rub it off using the same method and then toast the nuts until they’re golden and fragrant. With blanched almonds, you can skip the first step, of course.
3. Place the tomato, nuts and other ingredients in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and process until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt. The sauce should be the consistency of pesto. If it’s too thick, just add a bit more olive oil.
Serve immediately on fish, seafood, vegetables, poultry or just smeared on a piece of good toasted bred. Keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.
