Cauliflower and Romesco Sauce
Romesco is a Catalan sauce made with nuts and red pepper. In Spain, it’s often served with grilled spring onions; it’s also great with grilled vegetables, fish, seafood… in fact, pretty much everything!
Ingredients
- 1 small cauliflower
- 1 small Romanesco cauliflower
- Slivered almonds, to decorate
- Cherry tomatoes, to decorate
Romesco Sauce
- ½ cup almonds
- ½ cup hazelnuts
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 2 red bell peppers
- 4 cloves garlic, skin-on
- 4 Tbsp sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Reshampatti pepper or Cayenne, ground
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Romesco sauce
-
1
Place almonds and hazelnuts on two baking sheets and roast in an oven heated to 350 °F, around 6 to 9 minutes, depending on the size of the nuts. Remove and set aside. If you like, place hazelnuts on a rag and rub them to remove the brown skin.
-
2
Heat a thick-bottomed pan on medium-high. Place tomatoes, peppers and garlic on the pan. Toast on all side until the skin begins to blacken. Remove vegetables when each is well-cooked (around 5 minutes for the garlic, up to 15 minutes for the tomatoes). Let cool.
-
3
Remove as much blackened skin from the vegetables as possible when they are cooled.
Grind the almonds and hazelnuts in a food processor.
-
4
Place the vegetables in a food processor and purée. Add vinegar and spices and add oil in a continuous stream until well-incorporated. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.
Cauliflower
-
1
Separate cauliflower and Romanesco into small bouquets.
-
2
Bring a casserole of salted water to a boil.
-
3
Blanch cauliflower 6 to 7 minutes until tender. Remove with a skimmer and air cool, uncovered in a colander to dry. Avoid rinsing in cold water as cauliflower retains water which will dilute the sauce. Cook Romanesco in same water and dry the same way.
-
4
Place half the sauce in a dish. Arrange cooled vegetables on the dish, add remaining sauce on top and decorate to your taste.
