Salsa Romesco

A veggie barbecue needs some dips and sauces to accompany the chargrilled vegetables and this Spanish sauce is perfect for just that. 

Ingredients

1 kg of ripe tomatoes

1 head of garlic, cut in half

4 ñoras (dried smoky ​​pepper) (or use dried ancho chilli as an alternative)

30g slice of day-old bread, no-crusts

50 g almonds (blanched and skin removed)

30 g hazelnuts (roasted and skin removed)
1 tbsp sherry vinegar 

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more to fry the bread)
salt

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.

Place the tomatoes and the two halves of the garlic bulb on a roasting tray and drizzle with some olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt. Roast for 30 minutes. 

(If you can't find dried ñoras or ancho chilli then you could use red bell peppers and roast them with the tomatoes.)

In the meantime cut a slit in the ñoras and put them in a bowl. Cover them with a little boiling water. Push them down to soak them. Eventually they'll stop floating up.

Next, heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the slice of bread on both sides.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the almonds. Simmer for a minute. Drain and allow to cool for a minute before removing the skin. It should easily come off. 

Pop the hazlenuts into the oven for about five minutes. Take them out and once cool enough to handle reomve the skin by rubbing them together in a cloth. 

Remove the tomatoes and garlic from the oven. Squeeze out the garlic and add it and the tomatoes into a large blender. With a spoon, scrape the flesh from the ñoras peppers into the blender. Cut the fried bread into quarters and add to the blender. Then add the nuts.

Start blending with a pulse to combine the ingredients then whizz it on full, drizzling in 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil until you achieve as smooth texture as possible. (If you prefer it completely smooth then perhaps use a pestle and mortar instead of a blender.) 

Add the sherry vinegar, salt & pepper to taste. 

Keep in a sealed pot in the refridgerator.  (It will keep for about a week.)

Serve with barbecued vegetables.