Romesco Sauce

Serious Eats: “Romesco sauce comes from Tarragona, a Catalonian city just south of Barcelona on Spain’s north
eastern coast. Its base ingredients usually include nuts—often almonds and/or hazelnuts—tomatoes, dried peppers,
garlic, bread, olive oil, and vinegar, all mashed or processed into a paste….It goes with just about anything—meats,
poultry, fish, vegetables, on sandwiches, dolloped into bowls of soups, or spread on toasted bread. Stir into stews
and braising liquids; put it on pasta, toss it with rice, thin it with oil and vinegar and use it as a dressing for bitter
greens.” Use jarred red peppers and canned fire-roasted tomatoes as timesavers.

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 medium tomatoes (5 1/5 ounces or 150 g each), cored (see note)
• 1 medium head garlic, unpeeled, split in half
• 1 ounce (30 g) dried ñora peppers (about 4 peppers) or ancho chile peppers (about 3 peppers); (see note)
• 1 slice toasted or stale bread (1 1/2 ounces; 40 g), any thick and heavy crusts removed, bread broken into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) red wine or sherry vinegar, plus more if desired
• 1/2 cup skinned and toasted almonds and/or hazelnuts (2 3/4 ounces; 80 g); (see note)
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if desired
• Kosher salt

Directions

1. Roast vegetables; rehydrate peppers.
2. Heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place tomatoes and half of garlic head on it. Roast in 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 peppers. Let stand until peppers are fully softened, 30 minutes to 1 hour. If peppers are very stubborn (as thick-skinned ñoras can be), 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.
3. Pound or process sauce:
   • To Make Sauce Using a Mortar and Pestle: Add 3 cloves roasted garlic and 1 or 2 cloves peeled raw garlic to mortar.
   (Feel free to make this recipe more or less garlicky, according to your own tastes, by adding or subtracting roasted
   or raw garlic.) Smash garlic to a paste with 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 scraped pepper flesh, followed by peeled roasted tomatoes. Mix in olive oil until thoroughly combined.
   Season with salt. Add more oil, 1 tablespoon (15ml) at a time, if a thinner, richer sauce is desired. Add more vinegar
   to taste as well.
   • To Make Sauce Using a Countertop Blender or Immersion Blender: Add 3 cloves roasted garlic and 2 cloves peeled
   raw garlic to jar of blender, or blending container if using an immersion blender. (You can use more or less roasted
   and raw garlic, as desired, according to your own tastes.) Add nuts. Blend until finely processed, scraping down
   sides as necessary.
   • Blend in peeled roasted tomatoes and scraped pepper flesh. Add bread, olive oil, and vinegar, and blend until
   smooth. (How smooth to make it is up to you; some texture is okay.) Season with salt and add more oil and
   vinegar to taste, if desired.
   • To Make Sauce Using a Food Processor: In the bowl of a food processor, combine 3 cloves roasted garlic and 2
   cloves peeled raw garlic (use more or less roasted and raw garlic, as desired, according to your own tastes), along
   with bread and nuts. Process, scraping down sides as necessary, until finely chopped.
   • Add peeled 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.

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