🇪🇸 Catalonia, Spain · Vegan
Roasted Red Pepper Romesco Sauce
A smoky roasted-red-pepper sauce blended with garlic, almonds, paprika and red-wine vinegar.
Behind the plate
Romesco is one of the most useful roasted-vegetable sauces: sweet pepper, toasted nut richness, smoke and acidity in a single spoonful. It can behave as a dip, spread, pasta sauce or plated garnish.
Steaming the roasted peppers under cover loosens the skins and keeps the flesh succulent. Blending the peeled peppers with almonds produces body without cream or bread in this particular version.
Why this recipe works
High-heat roasting chars the skins and concentrates the pepper flesh. Almonds thicken the juicy peppers, smoked paprika echoes the roast, and vinegar provides enough acidity to keep the finished sauce lively.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 3 large red peppers
- 1–2 tbsp olive oil, for roasting
- 2 garlic cloves
- 50 g almonds, flaked or whole
- 1½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- Fine sea salt, to taste
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C, or 200°C fan. Place the whole red peppers on a baking tray, coat lightly with olive oil and season with salt.
- Roast for 25–30 minutes, turning if needed, until the skins are browned, blistered and blackened in places.
- Transfer the hot peppers to a heatproof bowl and cover for 10 minutes so the trapped steam loosens the skins.
- When cool enough to handle, peel the peppers and remove all stems and seeds. Retain the soft flesh and its clean juices.
- Blend the roasted peppers with the garlic, almonds, smoked paprika, vinegar and a pinch of salt until smooth.
- Taste and adjust the salt, vinegar or texture with a small amount of olive oil if needed. Cover and refrigerate.
Chef’s notes
- Do not rinse the roasted peppers under water; it washes away flavour.
- Toast raw almonds lightly for deeper flavour, then cool them before blending.
- Sherry vinegar gives a particularly rounded finish, but red-wine vinegar works well.
- For a more rustic romesco, stop blending while a little almond texture remains.
At the table
Use as a dip with grilled vegetables and bread, spread in sandwiches, or toss with gnocchi and pasta.