====== Romesco Sauce ====== Romesco is a mild chili sauce that uses nuts and bread for thickening. Without a food processor, it requires a lot of pounding and grinding with a mortar and pestle to make the base paste. The recipe freezes well and makes enough sauce for three, two-serving dishes. {{:rs-steepingthechiles.jpg?400|}} Chilies soaking in hot water ===== Ingredients ===== * 6 dried Choricero Chilies (soaked in hot water and flesh scrapped out) * ¼ cup (60 ml) Olive Oil * 3 ½ ounces (100 g) Bread (or baguette) * 3 Cloves Garlic, whole and peeled * 15 Blanched Almonds * 5 Blanched Hazel Nuts * 1 ½ tsp (5 g) Salt * 1 Yellow Onion, chopped * 1 Tomato, peeled & chopped * ½ cup (120 ml) Dry White Wine * 1 tbsp (10 ml) Red Wine Vinegar * ½ tsp (2 g) Red Pepper Flakes * 2 cups Water (or stock of choice for intended use fish, chicken, etc.) {{:rs-miseenplace.jpg?400|}} Mise en place\\ 1st row – Red wine vinegar, olive oil, almonds & hazel nuts, and salt\\ 2nd row – Dry white wine, garlic, and red pepper flakes\\ 3rd row – Onion and processed chilies\\ 4th row – Bread and tomato ===== Instructions ===== These instructions are from the boat without benefit of a food processor. If you have a food processor, feel free to use it. - Place the dried chilies in a sauce pan and add boiling water to cover. Put on a lid and let soak for 30 minutes. - Drain the chilies and cut them open. Discard the stems and seeds. - Scrape out the flesh with a knife and set aside. - Assemble your mise en place (see photo above). - In a frying pan, heat half of the olive oil and fry the bread until golden (3 minutes per side). (When using a mortar and pestle, cut the bread into cubes to make the pounding stage a little easier.) - In a mortar, combine the fried bread, garlic, almonds, hazelnuts, and salt. - Pound until you have a paste. - Add the chili flesh and pound until fully incorporated (the resulting paste should be slightly coarse). - Heat the frying pan over medium-high heat and add the remaining olive oil. - Add the onion and sauté until lightly golden (3 to 4 minutes). - Add the tomato and salt. - Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. - Add the chili paste, wine, vinegar, red pepper flakes and water or stock of choice. Give a good stir to combine. - Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for to reduce by a quarter (about 15 minutes). - Remove from heat and pass the sauce through a food mill with a medium plate. - Then pass through the food mill again with a fine plate. - The sauce is ready to use hot or cold. {{:rs-pounding.jpg?400|}} Pounding paste in mortar {{:rs-foodmill.jpg?400|}} Second (and last) pass through the food mill