Quick & Easy

Romesco sauce with eggplant and zucchini

Traditionally served with fish, this tomato and capsicum based sauce works wonderfully with chargrilled zucchini's and eggplant.
romesco sauce with eggplant and zucchini
4
20M
20M
40M

Romesco is a tomato-based sauce that originated from Tarragona, Catalonia. The fishermen made the sauce to be eaten with fish. It is like a pesto – typically made from any mixture of roasted tomatoes and garlic, toasted almonds, pine nuts, and/or hazelnuts, olive or sunflower oil, and nyora peppers.

Ingredients

Romesco sauce
Eggplant and zucchini

Method

1.Make romesco sauce. Roast capsicums and tomato directly over a gas flame on stove-top, turning until charred (or roast in a hot heavy-based frying pan or grill pan, turning, until charred). Wrap individually in foil. Peel away skins. Chop capsicum and tomato; keep separated.
2.Heat half the oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat; cook chopped capsicum and garlic, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until capsicum is soft.
3.Add chopped tomato and paprika; cook for 3 minutes or until tomato softens. Process nuts until finely chopped; add capsicum mixture, sherry and the water and blend until smooth. Season to taste.
4.Preheat a grill pan to high. Spray vegetables with olive oil; season with salt. Cook vegetables, in batches, for 4 minutes each side until tender and lightly charred.
5.Layer vegetables on a platter; top with nuts and parsley. Serve with romesco sauce.

Romesco is a traditional northern Spanish sauce, much like pesto in texture, made from a mixture of nuts and fire-roasted capsicum that often accompanies seafood or a local roasted Catalonian spring onion.

Note

Related stories