If you never tried this fantastic sauce, you should asap! It has roasted tomatoes, red peppers, almonds, and a few other ingredients. It comes together quickly and is good for pasta, sandwiches, as a dip, with fish, chicken and more. This might be my favorite sauce ever. I make a large batch and eat it every single day until it's gone. True story.
What is romesco?
It's a tomato-based sauce originated in Spain. There are several versions, and, similar to gazpacho, some have bread and some don't.
I was taught this recipe by a Spanish woman who wouldn't even think of not adding bread, so I'm following her lead. After experimenting a bit, I find that the romesco sauce with bread is superior to the one without.
Main ingredients
I'm a strong believer in this romesco sauce recipe as written. It's so delicious, there's no need to make changes.
What is up for debate is the proportions of some ingredients. So there I think you can adjust to your personal taste. After several tries with different combinations, I like it exactly as is in the recipe card. But feel free to adjust. Maybe you like a lot of garlic or more tomatoes. Your call.
- Red peppers - a lot of times I roast all ingredients together and that's it. Other times I use jarred red peppers (I buy Spanish piquillo peppers online). They're a time saver and delicious. I usually have tomatoes and garlic in the house that I can roast, but not peppers.
- Bread - white bread, such as baguette, is the best. You don't use the crust so you can even use white sandwich bread.
- Almonds - I do take the time to peel the almonds, which is something I don't usually do. But for this recipe I do like it because it adds a creamier texture. But you can use the whole almonds, absolutely!
Roasting the vegetables
This method is the best because it concentrates the flavor and adds a natural caramelized flavor that is amazing.
As you can see in the images below, you only need to baked them in a medium oven until charred, wrinkled and maybe slightly burnt here and there.
Before roasting After roasting the tomatoes and garlic
How to skin almonds
It's very easy, simply cover almonds with boiling water, let stand for a few minutes and then slip off the skins with your fingers. They will have separated from the meaty almond.
See the step-by-step in the videos below 👇🏻
Simple steps
You need an immersion blender, my first choice, or a food processor, my second choice, for this sauce. A blender would work also, but the sauce it thick, take that into account. I, personally, find it annoying to take out the mixture that is at the bottom of the jar, so I rather use one of the other options.
- Put all ingredients in a bowl.
- Add some of the olive oil and process.
- Add the rest of the oil in a thin stream and keep processing until it's as smooth and thick as you want.
- You might want it thinner and I recommend adding a few teaspoons of water instead of more oil. So that it doesn't get too heavy.
- Transfer to a jar and add a thin layer of olive oil on top before closing the lid. Keep refrigerated.
Storing it
- The best way is to keep it in a glass jar with a tight lid and with a thin layer of olive oil on top. It will prevent air from getting into the sauce and ruining it much faster.
- It keeps well for a week or two in the refrigerator. But really, I've had it more than that. And you can freeze it for a few months.
How to serve it
This is a tomato and red pepper-based sauce, so it's fantastic with fish and chicken, especially grilled IMO. I love it with pasta, love it! Also as a spread for sandwiches or as a dip (with the olive oil crackers for example).
I love it with potato wedges! Bake the potatoes as directed in the Parmesan Potatoes post, and then dip in the romesco sauce (image below).
Meal prep
Vegetables: you can roast the vegetables a week ahead and keep in a jar with olive oil and a tight lid. Don't drain them and make sure to add less oil when making the sauce.
Almonds: you can skin them several days before, dry them in a very low oven (don't let them toast, only dry out so they don't become soggy), and keep them in a jar with a tight lid.
Other sauces you might like:
Authentic Chimichurri Sauce
Easy Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
Easy Cilantro Pesto
Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
Fresh Peach Chutney
Let me know in the comments below if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it. Thank you for being here, I appreciate it a lot!
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Easy Romesco Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups aprox. 1x
- Category: Dips & Condiments
- Method: Baking + Mixing
- Cuisine: International
Description
This tomato-based sauce is delicious, comes together quickly, and keeps well. Great with fish, chicken, for pasta, sandwiches, and more.
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup bread cubes, no crust
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- ½ cup almonds, whole or peeled (skinned)
- Ground cumin, coriander, and black pepper, to taste
- 1 large tomato
- ½ cup roasted red peppers (homemade or store-bought) see Notes, below
- Fresh chili, jalapeño type or in adobo (optional)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Turn on the oven at 350°F/180ºC.
- Put a piece of aluminum foil over a baking dish.
- Arrange the vegetables and bread with the tomato cut into quarters. And red peppers in chunks if not using from a jar. If you separate them in rows it's easier to remove as they are done.
- Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and cook until each ingredient is done, about 10 minutes for the bread (which is golden but not burned), half an hour for the garlic, and a little more for the tomato and peppers until they are charred and juices flow. Don't throw away the juice that collects in the bottom!
- Peel the almonds if you want: put them in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave 5-10 and peel them. The skin comes off easy, like chickpeas. If it still won't come off, drain the water and add boiling water and repeat the process again. Dry them with a cloth, chop them just like that and reserve.
- Put all the ingredients (except oil) in the jar of the immersion blender: tomato with the juice that was released, garlic, bread, almonds, drained peppers, hot chili if using, salt, coriander, ground cumin, and pepper.
- Add a little oil until you can begin to process, and add more little by little, until it thickens.
- You can also thin it a bit with a few teaspoons of water if you want a more fluid sauce.
- Store in a glass jar with a thin layer of olive oil on top. It lasts a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Red peppers: you can buy roasted peppers online, such as the Piquillo Roasted Pepper De Lallo brand. Or some Spanish Matiz Piquillo Peppers. They are amazingly delicious.
- Vegetables: you can roast the vegetables a week ahead and keep in a jar with olive oil and a tight lid. Don't drain them and make sure to add less oil when making the sauce.
- Almonds: you can skin them several days before, dry them in a very low oven (don't let them toast, only dry out so they don't become soggy), and keep them in a jar with a tight lid.
Keywords: romesco sauce
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