Romesco de Tarragona

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small rimmed metal baking tray
• •Heavy frying pan, about 24cm
• •Large mortar and pestle or food processor
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften and scrape ñoras

   Split the ñoras, remove the stems and shake out the seeds. Cover them with just-boiled water, set a small plate on top to keep them submerged, and leave for 30 minutes. Drain them, open each pepper flat and scrape the softened red flesh from the skin with a teaspoon. Discard the soaking water and skins.

   Scrape the flesh rather than blending the whole pepper. The skins stay leathery and can leave bitter flecks in the sauce. If you're using 30g jarred ñora pulp, skip this step.
2. 2

   Roast tomato and garlic

   Heat the oven to 220°C or 425°F. Put the whole tomatoes and unpeeled head of garlic on a small metal tray. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, turning the tomatoes once, until their skins split and blacken in places, their flesh collapses and the garlic feels soft when pressed. Cool for 10 minutes. Peel and core the tomatoes over a bowl so you keep their juices, then squeeze the garlic from its skins.

3. 3

   Toast nuts and bread

   Set a heavy frying pan over medium-low heat. Toast the almonds and hazelnuts for 5 to 7 minutes, moving them often, until fragrant and mottled gold without scorching. Tip them onto a clean cloth and rub away the loose hazelnut skins. Add 15ml of the olive oil to the pan and fry the bread for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until crisp and deep gold. Let everything cool.

4. 4

   Build the picada

   Put the toasted nuts and 4g of the salt in a large mortar and pound them into coarse crumbs. Add the fried bread, roasted garlic, scraped ñora flesh and the guindilla, if using. Pound until they hold together as a rough picada, the pounded base that gives the sauce its body. In a food processor, use short pulses and stop while small nut flecks remain.

5. 5

   Add tomato and vinegar

   Work in the peeled roasted tomatoes, adding their reserved juices only as needed, then mix in the red wine vinegar. The mixture should be thick, rough and brick-red, with the nuts still visible. Taste it now. Add the remaining 1g salt if the tomato and vinegar need it.

6. 6

   Work in the oil

   Add the remaining 165ml olive oil little by little, stirring firmly with the pestle or a wooden spoon after each addition. This order decides the sauce: the solids must form a paste before the oil goes in, or the nuts skate about and the romesco stays greasy. If it stands too stiffly, stir in cold water 5ml at a time, using no more than 30ml. Rest for 30 minutes, then serve at room temperature.

   If you started in a food processor, transfer the picada to a bowl before adding the oil. Stirring it in by hand preserves the coarse texture; a long run under the blade turns the sauce into smooth nut cream, which romesco is not.

Chef Tips

• •Good dried ñoras smell sweet and fruity and still bend a little. Dusty peppers that crack like old paper have lost most of what you need. Use 30g jarred ñora pulp if that is what you can find; 30g pimiento choricero pulp gives a sound substitute, but the result is darker and less sweet.
• •Use both almonds and hazelnuts. Almonds give the sauce structure, while hazelnuts bring its round, toasted depth. Replacing one with more of the other still makes a useful sauce, but it loses the balance Tarragona gives it.
• •Choose ripe plum tomatoes that smell of tomato. Hard, watery fruit stays sharp even after roasting. Out of season, drain 400g whole peeled canned plum tomatoes for 20 minutes and roast them in a shallow tray until concentrated and dark at the edges; the flavor will be less fresh but fuller than a pale winter tomato.
• •Romesco should mound softly on a spoon, not pour like dressing and not stand like nut paste. If it thickens in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature and stir in cold water 5ml at a time.
• •Serve it with grilled fish, shellfish, roasted aubergine, peppers or spring onions. A dry Catalan white made from Xarel·lo or Macabeu has enough freshness for the nuts and roasted garlic without bullying the sauce.
• •Keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to five days. Press a piece of baking parchment directly onto the surface or cover it with a thin film of olive oil, then let it stand out of the cold for 30 minutes before serving.

Advance Preparation

• •Roast the tomatoes and garlic and toast the nuts and bread up to one day ahead. Refrigerate the roasted tomato and garlic together, but keep the nuts and bread dry at room temperature.
• •The finished sauce is better after two hours and can be made two days ahead. Refrigerate it covered, then bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes and stir well before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 70g)