Cals Romesco Recipes

Steps:

• Method:.
• Soak bread in milk.
• Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until smoking.
• Separately sauté the garlic and ancho chilies until lightly browned.
• Remove each ingredient with a slotted spoon as it's done.
• Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and red wine.
• Drain milk from bread.
• Place all the sautéed ingredients, tomatoes, bell peppers, honey, bread, and the deglazing liquid into a food processor and blend until smooth.
• Add the hazelnuts and process until finely chopped.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Steps:

• Set up your favorite smoker and add a handful of hardwood chunks. If you have heat control, set it to whatever position will give you moderate heat: 180 to 200 degrees F. Allow the wood to smoke for approximately 30 minutes before adding food.
• While the smoker is heating, position an oven rack 5-inches below the broiler and set the broiler to high.
• Halve the peppers lengthwise, discard the seeds, place cut side-down on a sheet pan, then broil, rotating the pan halfway through, until the skins are charred, about 10 minutes. (Or you can char them over your gas cooktop burners if you have them. It's a little messy but darned efficient and fun in a medieval kind of way.)
• Transfer the peppers to a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes, then slip the charred skins off the peppers with your hands. (Doing this under running water helps.)
• Spread the tomato paste into a thin layer on piece of parchment paper and place on a baking rack along with the peppers and garlic. Smoke for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a toaster oven to 400 degrees F and toast the almonds until light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Set up a food processor with an S-blade (the normal processing blade) and load in the bread cubes, smoked peppers, garlic and tomato paste, the toasted almonds, sherry vinegar and salt. Pulse until uniform but still chunky, then leave the motor running while you add the oil in a constant stream. (Do this fairly quickly so that the sauce doesn't puree completely.)
• For full flavor, wait a couple of hours to serve at room temp. To store, cover tightly and refrigerate for up 10 days or freeze in ice cube trays for easy dosing.

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler and cover a baking sheet with foil. Place the tomatoes on the baking sheet, and place under the broiler at the highest setting. Broil for two to four minutes, until charred on one side. Turn over and broil on the other side for two to four minutes until charred. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Peel and core.
• Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop in the garlic cloves. When the garlic is chopped and adheres to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the sides. Add the toasted almonds (or almonds and hazelnuts), bread and chile powder or flakes to the bowl and process to a paste.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the pepper, tomatoes, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Process until smooth, and with the machine running, add the vinegar and olive oil in a slow stream, beginning with the smaller amount of olive oil and thinning out as desired. Process until well amalgamated, then scrape into a bowl.
• Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt or chile as desired. If possible, allow the sauce to stand for an hour at room temperature before using. Serve with fish and/or grilled vegetables, or on crostini.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Drizzle olive oil into a roasting pan or baking dish.
• Cut Romanesco into quarters, being sure to cut directly through the thick center core, so that they stay together when roasted. Set aside until needed.
• Add anchovies and 3 tablespoons olive oil to a large mixing bowl and use the back of a fork to mash the anchovies into a paste. Add red pepper flakes and lemon juice and stir with a fork to combine.
• Toss Romanesco in the dressing until the pieces are thoroughly coated. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and 1/2 of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and toss until evenly coated.
• Transfer Romanesco into the prepared pan, cut side-down. Scrape all cheese and crumbs from the mixing bowl and scatter over the top. Grate the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano to cover the tops and lightly drizzle with olive oil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is browned and the Romanesco is tender, as tested with the tip of a knife in the cores, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges.

Steps:

• Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan for 3-4 mins until starting to turn golden and smelling toasted. Shake the pan often to turn them. Tip out and leave to cool.
• Drain the red peppers and tip into a food processor with the almonds, garlic, vinegar and smoked paprika, then blitz to a chunky paste.
• With the motor still on, slowly drizzle in the olive oil to make a dip. A bit of texture works well for this rather than blending to a super smooth consistency. Season well, adding a little more vinegar, if you like.