Recipe: Spanish Romesco Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 cup of roasted red pepper
• 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes for some heat
• 2 tbsp of sherry vinegar for a little acid
• 2 anchovy fillets for some salt
• 1/2 cup of roasted almonds

Instructions

Step 1

Saute the Garlic
We're going to start with 1/4 cup olive oil on low heat in a sauté pan. We're going to basically toast some garlic. I have 4 cloves, I quartered them - you can just roughly chop them - it really doesn't matter. When it starts to sizzle, we don't want to brown them, but when it starts to sizzle give it about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let that cool.

Step 2

Mix the Romesco Sauce Ingredients
Now, we're going to take:

* 1 cup of roasted red pepper, those are roasted and peeled, you can do your own or use jarred
* 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes for some heat
* 2 tbsp of sherry vinegar for a little acid
* 2 anchovy fillets for some salt and to give another dimension of flavor, and the other main ingredient
* 1/2 cup of roasted almonds

So, then add the toasted garlic in there. If you want, some people like to reserve the oil and drizzle it in later as it purees, I don't understand that, I just add it all in now and save a step.

Step 3

Cook the Romesco Sauce to Desired Consistency
Now we're going to blitz that on and off until it starts to come together and then you can just leave it on until its as thick or thin and smooth as you want. After about 30 seconds or so you'll have you going to have what I would call a coarse or chunky romesco.

Many people do serve it this way. Maybe for a piece of grilled fish this would be the best texture for it. But, I prefer for a all-purpose sauce something that's smoother. So I'm going to go for another minutes until I have that consistency.

Step 4

Serve the Romesco Sauce
Basically this is a pesto. Instead of pinenuts we used almonds and instead of basil we have red pepper. It's better if you let it ripen for one day, all the flavors will meld together. Adjust for salt. Make sure you taste it.

This is so good on everything, literally. Meats, potatoes, vegetables, this is just some steamed green beans, so, so good! I mean this is enough to make me go vegetarian. I served this with some roast pork loin and some green beans and it was fantastic.

This is such a popular sauce in Spain. It's been called the "ketchup" of Spain. By the way, that's a great way to get punched in the face by a Spanish chef, call it the "ketchup" of Spain in front of them and see what happens. Anyway, I hope you give it a try, its a great all-purpose sauce. Enjoy.