Recipes from Spain

Hello!

Romesco is a sauce typical from Catalonia (a region where Barcelona is located), normally is used with vegetables giving those vegetables a superb flavour.

Ingredients (for the romesco sauce):

• 2 tomatoes
• 2 ñoras (dried peppers)
• 12 toasted almonds
• 6 hazelnuts
• White vinegar
• Toasted bread
• 4-5 garlic cloves

For the vegetables use those ones of your favorite choice, I used 2 red onions, one zucchini and one egg plant, but you can also use asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms … Just cut them in pieces of medium size, put in an oven tray, add salt and olive oil and mix. On the oven we will also put 2 tomatoes with 2 incisions in cross shape (so they will be easier to peel later) and 4-5 garlic cloves. Cook on the oven at 350ºF (180º C) for one hour, but retire the tomatoes and garlic cloves after 15 minutes. In a mortar add 12 toasted almonds, 6 hazelnuts and some toasted bread (50-75 gr), grind well for some time. The ñoras (dried peppers) must be on water from the day before, remove the seed, cut in half and separe the pulp from the skin. Peel the tomatoes once out of oven.

Add 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to the mortar, the garlic cloves, the pulp of peppers and the peeled tomates. Grind them for some time. Add olive oil (like half glass) while moving. In order to grind it better, pass it through a Chinese strainer, put the rests on the Chinese strainer back in the mortar and it will be easier to grind. Finally put the liquid back on the mortar and mix well. You can also mix it together in a blender, it will be faster and easier, but sometimes it is also nice to do manual work :). And now you have a nice vegetables with a gorgeous sauce 🙂