If there’s one thing Spanish cooking has taught me, it’s that a good sauce can turn the simplest meal into something worth remembering.
Romesco is a perfect example.
Made with roasted tomatoes, garlic, dried peppers, almonds, hazelnuts and olive oil, this traditional Catalan sauce is wonderful with grilled fish, vegetables and potatoes.
But its story is just as interesting as its flavor.
From the Fishing Boats of Tarragona
Romesco comes from the region around Tarragona, on the Catalan coast.
Local tradition connects the sauce with the fishermen of the Serrallo district, who prepared flavorful mixtures using ingredients they could keep on board: dried peppers, bread, garlic, olive oil and nuts.
Every fisherman seemed to have his own version.
Some added tomatoes, others preferred more nuts, and the balance of garlic, oil and vinegar could vary considerably.
Which probably explains why finding two identical romesco recipes is almost impossible.
Romesco or Salvitxada?
And then there’s salvitxada, the sauce traditionally served with calçots, those wonderful long spring onions grilled over an open fire during Catalonia’s famous calçotada gatherings.
The two sauces are closely related. Both can contain roasted tomatoes, garlic, dried peppers, nuts and olive oil.
The exact differences depend on who you ask, and local recipes often overlap.
I prefer not to worry too much about which family has the definitive version.
For this romesco, I use both almonds and hazelnuts, roasted garlic and ñora peppers. I leave a little texture in the sauce rather than blending it completely smooth.
It’s particularly good with grilled seafood, roasted vegetables or simply a piece of good bread.
And once you have a jar in the refrigerator, you’ll probably find yourself using it on all sorts of things.
Homemade Catalan Romesco Sauce
Ingredients
- – 1 dried ñora pepper
- – 2 medium ripe tomatoes halved
- – 3 garlic cloves left unpeeled
- – 35 g ¼ cup toasted almonds
- – 25 g 3 tablespoons toasted hazelnuts
- – ½ thick slice of day-old bread toasted
- – 60 ml ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- – 2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar
- – ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste
- – 1–2 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley roughly chopped (optional)
Method
- Soak the ñora pepper
- Place the dried ñora pepper in a small bowl and cover it with very hot water. Leave it to soak for approximately 30 minutes, weighing it down with a small plate if it keeps floating.
- Drain the pepper, remove the stem and seeds, then scrape the soft flesh away from the skin with the edge of a teaspoon. Discard the skin and set the pepper flesh aside.
- Roast the tomatoes and garlic
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
- Place the halved tomatoes cut-side down on a small baking tray. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves and drizzle everything with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
- Roast for 20–25 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and their skins are beginning to darken. Leave them to cool slightly, then remove the tomato skins and squeeze the garlic from its peel.
- Blend the sauce
- Place the toasted almonds, hazelnuts and bread in a food processor. Pulse until they form coarse crumbs. Do not grind them completely smooth; romesco should retain some texture.
- Add the roasted tomatoes, garlic, ñora pepper flesh, parsley, vinegar and salt. Pulse again until everything is combined.
- With the food processor running, gradually add the remaining olive oil. Blend only until the sauce is thick, spoonable and still slightly coarse.
- Taste and add a little more salt or vinegar if needed. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with a teaspoon of water or olive oil.
- Let it rest
- Leave the romesco sauce to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving. This gives the flavours time to come together. Serve at room temperature.
