Feel the European nights with a bold romesco sauce that’s best served with flatbread or crusty fresh bread. Chef Tom Walton created this romesco recipe to be quick and simple using a Vitamix Ascent blender that you can blend with less time for a crunchy version, or longer for a silky smooth puree. Pair the fragrant sauce with anything from grilled vegetables, cooked or raw seafood, meats, chicken, and soups, as a dip served with eggs, and tomato braises for a robust kick of flavour.
This recipe makes 2 services and takes a total of 20 minutes. It uses the Vitamix 2.0 litre Low-Profile Container.
Romesco Sauce
- 2 large red capsicums
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup each of roasted almonds and hazelnuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ Tablespoons sweet smoked paprika
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Garnishes
- 2 bunches broccolini
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup natural yoghurt
- 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons za’atar (optional)
Directions
- Preheat an oven grill to high and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Cut the sides of the capsicum off in four parts from around the core, place skin side up onto the tray, brush with 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil and grill for 5 – 7 minutes, until the skin is blackened.
- Allow to cool for 2 minutes then peel off the skin and discard.
- Place the roast capsicum flesh into the Vitamix blender jug along with the rest of the Romesco ingredients and blend on a speed of 3 for 20 seconds to form a crunchy sauce or increase the speed to 6 and blend for a little longer to achieve a smoother sauce consistency.
- Pour the sauce into a container and store in the fridge for up to a week.
- Preheat a grill plate or BBQ over a high heat. Toss the broccolini with the olive oil and a little salt and pepper then grill for approximately 2 – 3 minutes, turning until it gets a little charred.
- While the broccolini cooks, spoon the yoghurt onto a serving plate and then spoon 4 Tablespoons of Romesco over the yoghurt and swirl around.
- Place the cooked broccolini over the Romesco yoghurt, spoon over a little more Romesco sauce, squeeze over the lemon and sprinkle with za’atar if using.