Romesco sauce
25 min · 1 g protein · 47 cals / serving
Catalonia's smoky red sauce of roasted peppers, charred tomato and toasted almonds, sharpened with vinegar and smoked paprika. A spoonful of white beans stands in for the usual fried bread and makes it thick and creamy. Spoon it over grilled fish, chicken, eggs or charred vegetables, or eat it as a dip.
Ingredients
- 3 medium tomatoes, halved
- 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1 large jar (16 oz), drained roasted red peppers
- 1/3 cup cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar, or sherry vinegar
- 1 tsp paprika, smoked
- a pinch red pepper flakes, or cayenne
- 4 tsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 1/4 tsp salt, to taste; jarred peppers are salty
Steps
- Heat the grill (broiler) to high. Put the tomato halves cut side down on a foil-lined tray with the unpeeled garlic cloves and grill for 8–10 minutes, until the tomato skins are blistered and blackened in places. Let them cool for a few minutes, then slip off the tomato skins and squeeze the garlic out of its papery skin.
- Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a dry pan over medium heat for 4–5 minutes, shaking the pan, until they smell toasty and are golden inside when you bite one. Let them cool a little.
- Put the almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the tomatoes, garlic, peppers, beans, vinegar, smoked paprika, pepper flakes, olive oil and salt, and blend for about a minute until thick and almost smooth, with a little texture from the nuts.
- Taste and adjust: more vinegar for brightness, salt to taste, or a pinch more pepper flakes for heat. It tastes best after 30 minutes, once the smoky flavours have settled.
Good to know
Why white beans?
Romesco is usually thickened with bread fried in olive oil. The beans do the same thickening job with no frying and leave it creamy. Without them, and with 3 tbsp of oil for body, it scores about 44 instead of 59.
Can I use hazelnuts?
Yes, a mix of almonds and hazelnuts is the most traditional. Toast and rub off the skins of the hazelnuts first. Skinned almonds give a paler, smoother sauce; whole ones taste nuttier. All hazelnuts lands at about the same score.
How long does it keep?
Up to 5 days in a jar in the fridge, with a thin film of oil or a piece of cling film pressed on the surface. It freezes well in small portions, and a few tablespoons will dress a whole tray of roast vegetables.
Per
- Calories
- 80
- Protein
- (13%)
- 2 g
- Fat
- (59%)
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- (28%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 765 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 561 kcal goes into the pot and 782 g of ingredients comes out as about 700 g of food: 80 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.