Romesco sauce: recipe with photo, nuances and cooking secrets

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The pride of Catalonia in terms of culinary heritage is romesco sauce. The dish originates in small rural kitchens, in houses hidden among the mountain slopes and covered with crowns of almond trees. It was here that the world-famous sauce was born. The cooking process only at first glance seems complicated and time-consuming. If you know all the secrets and nuances of cooking, then even a novice hostess will cope with the task. The classic sauce recipe simply does not exist. Each Spanish family has its own old recipe, its own production technology, which is passed down from generation to generation.

Of course, you can not waste your precious time and just buy Spanish romesco sauce in the nearest supermarket. But experienced chefs say that the industrial product has nothing to do with traditional romesco. Try to cook this magnificent, tasty and fragrant sauce yourself. We have selected the simplest and most understandable recipes for you.

A little digression into history

In the old daystimes when Europeans were just beginning their journey to explore America, the Catalans began to plant romesco peppers. In Spain, it is also called "sheep's horns". The inhabitants of Catalonia are very independent and attentive to their cuisine, not allowing low-quality or tasteless products to enter the table. However, in the romesco sauce recipe, you can still catch the French and Italian culinary notes.

The original recipe uses red sweet romesco peppers, but many chefs substitute the classic and more familiar chili peppers. A historical culinary fact that has remained unchanged over the centuries is the thickness of the sauce. It is she who determines its quality, it is she who shows that the product was prepared in the right way. Uniformity is the key to success.

Good "neighbors"

Even if you managed to get high-quality red pepper, even if you know by heart the recipe for romesco sauce from Yulia Vysotskaya or another famous culinary specialist, it is always very important to decide what kind of dish you are preparing it for. The right and harmonious combination of the main dish and sauce is very important.

Romesco is perfect for delicate fish. It can be sea bass, cod or dorado. This sauce goes well with any vegetables, for example, grilled or baked in the oven. Good "neighbors" will be romesco sauce and meat with a pronounced bright taste (beef, duck, lamb).

List of required ingredients

• Twolarge red peppers (can be replaced with sweet Bulgarian);
• three tomatoes;
• 7 garlic cloves;
• 2 chili peppers;
• 165g almonds;
• 80g hazelnuts;
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil;
• a pinch of s alt;
• 1, 5 teaspoons ground black pepper;
• 40ml wine vinegar;
• parsley;
• rosemary;
• fresh mint.

Pepper Processing

One of the important secrets of making classic romesco sauce is the right choice of ingredients. Any Spanish housewife will say that for the sauce it is better to choose products that grew right in your garden near the house (tomatoes, peppers), as well as in the forest nearby (almonds and garlic). The most important components of a Catalan dish must be of high quality, natural and safe for he alth.

If possible, of course, you need to find Spanish red pepper. It is its softened pulp that gives the dish the desired color, aroma and flavor. Peppers for romesco sauce are soaked for a day in cold water. As a rule, this is done with dried peppers (fresh ones do not grow in our country and are not sold in a "live" form). After soaking, the pepper will look more voluminous and brighter in color. Scoop out the pulp with a spoon. It is she who will be directly involved in the preparation of the Catalan sauce.

Cooking technology

Now let's move on to the second main ingredient - tomatoes. They need to be bakedoven. On a small baking sheet, greased or covered with baking paper, lay out the tomatoes, garlic cloves and nuts (hazelnuts and almonds). It will be enough for 10 minutes at a low temperature to prepare the nuts. We leave the tomatoes for another 15 minutes in the oven. After this process, the garlic will have a slightly baked appearance, and the tomatoes will remain juicy, despite the shrunken skin.

Another secret to making romesco sauce is to use a mortar. It is with her help that experienced chefs recommend grinding the ingredients for the sauce. Of course, if it is not possible to purchase a wooden or stone mortar for the kitchen, you can use a blender. But this, as they say, is an extreme option.

Nuts get into the mortar first. After chopping them, tomatoes and garlic are added. We put a pinch of s alt and crush further until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Gradually add all the other ingredients, starting with hot red pepper and ending with fresh herbs. Olive oil and wine vinegar are the last to go. Spices can be added at any stage of cooking. In the photo, romesco sauce is always a pleasant rich color. To get this shade, you need to let the sauce stand for about two hours. Spanish housewives call this the maturation process.

The finished sauce is put into jars and stored in a cool place. Since the cooking process takes a lot of time and takes a lot of effort, housewives prefer to make a large amount of it at once. It is stored in the refrigeratoror in the cellar.

Calsots and Romesco

The Spaniards always associate romesco sauce with one of the most popular events among the people. From December to March, on the streets of Spanish cities, you can find people busy roasting wild onions. Calçotadas is the name of a spring onion that grows in the provinces of Catalonia, a traditional Spanish dish, and folk festivities.

The Spaniards are especially enthusiastic about grilling this product right on the streets of the city. But the onion calçot is never consumed without romesco sauce. Before you lower the onion into the spicy mass, it must be rid of the rough upper skin. Only a white baked onion head is eaten. She has an amazing aroma, taste and juiciness. From the outside it seems that this is a rather "dirty" business, but in fact it is very exciting, interesting, fun and tasty.

Spanish housewives prepare most of the Romesco sauce for the future just for this celebration. Of course, leaving a couple of cherished jars with fragrant contents for family holidays and Christmas.

Baked cod with beans and romesco

Another popular dish of Catalonia is baked fish with beans and the notorious Romesco sauce. Traditionally in Spain it is cod. The fish is fried with garlic and red pepper in olive oil. In most Spanish restaurants, it is served with boiled beans and romesco sauce.

Butifarra sausages

One morea traditional Spanish dish that goes well with red pepper sauce. Pork sausages are served both in restaurants and in home cooking. It can be a self-sufficient dish served with only sauce, or it can be a treat complemented by a side dish of beans or sweet potatoes. Spaniards cook sausages for grilling on their own, acquiring high-quality meat. Of course, if there is no time, then you can use purchased sausages for frying. Romesco makes everything delicious.