Romesco Sauce

Yield: 2 cups

• 5 small sweet red peppers
• ¼ cup toasted walnuts
• ¼ cup toasted hazelnuts
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoon tomato paste
• ½ teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• Salt
• Grilled vegetables for plating (like eggplant, onions, squash)

Step 1:

Preheat a gas grill to high. Once hot, grill the peppers, turning a few times, until they are blackened on all sides, about 10 minutes. Let the peppers cool, then clean them: cut off the stem, then slice in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with your knife, then flip the half over and scrape the pepper skin off with your knife. Set the cleaned peppers aside.

Step 2:

Heat a medium-sized pan over medium low, add the olive oil and the garlic, stirring constantly. Once the garlic starts to brown around the edges, add the panko breadcrumbs, stir stir stir until the breadcrumbs become golden brown. Pour the oil, garlic and crumbs into a bowl and let them cool. Grind the toasted nuts in a food processor until they are almost a paste, add the peppers, the oil- garlic- breadcrumb mixture, tomato paste, a big pinch of salt, and the kashmiri chili and smoked paprika. Process the mixture for about a minute, then scrape down the sides of the machine and process for another minute. Scrape down the sides one more time and process until the mixture is smooth. Use a rubber spatula to remove the romesco sauce from the machine and taste for spice and salt.

Step 3:

Spoon the romesco sauce into a small bowl and place it on a platter, arrange some delicious grilled vegetables around the bowl of sauce. Encourage your guests to smear the sauce on the vegetables and enjoy!