IT’S PEPPER TIME!!! The ripe peppers are rolling in right now! Especially the Italian sweet fryers which are amazing for tossing into any meal for a sweet crunch, but they also roast beautifully for my second favorite purée sauce, Romesco!
This Spanish pepper based sauce is wonderful on pasta or for dipping, makes a great addition to a crudités or anti pasta platter. I like to freeze some of each batch for winter time consumption. Nothing quite beats the gorgeous sunshine flavor of ripe peppers.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large sweet bell pepper or two sweet fryers
- ½ an onion – cut into 1 inch thick wedges
- 2 garlic cloves ( or sub 1 teaspoon roasted garlic powder )
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup toasted hazelnuts or almonds
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- ½–¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar ( or red wine vinegar)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 F
Cut pepper in half, remove seeds and place, open side down on a greased sheet pan. Add onion wedges, drizzle with a little oil and roast until both are tender, about 30 minutes.
Place the onion and bell pepper in a food processor with all the remaining ingredients (except the parsley). Pulse until combined. You can keep this quite coarse, with more texture, or blend until very smooth.
Add the chopped parsley and pulse a few times. Taste, adjust salt and heat.
To serve, place in bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with parsley and crushed hazelnuts if you like.
Notes
This can be made with jarred or canned roasted peppers. ( In this case, simple brown the onions on the stove top)
The vinegar extends its shelf life and will keep for 10 days in the fridge. Cover the sauce with a layer of olive oil to prevent discoloring.
