Grilled Shrimp with Romesco Sauce
Are you ready for savory flavored coffee? Ginger, avocado, or rosemary… coffee…anyone? How about made-to-order meals from your local gas station or convenient store? Maybe? According to the professional foodies these are a couple of the new food trends for 2025. There is one trend though that I am very excited about, and it is sauces: on and under everything! I am a huge fan of them. Sauces can change a dish from ordinary to extraordinary and can make an ordinary meal into a memorable occasion, a celebration, even a tradition.
The following recipe is having a bit of a comeback. It is a variation of a Spanish sauce that I originally found a few decades ago in a cookbook called Tapas written by Penelope Casas. Romesco sauce is quite similar to another dish that you might be more familiar with, muhammara. The main ingredients in both sauces are roasted red peppers and nuts. It occurred to me that these two sauces may have shared an origin many centuries ago, even though romesco is from Spain and muhammara is from the Middle East.
After a bit of research, reading through the history of Spain, (thank you Wikipedia), I think I understand how a dish with red bell peppers became so popular in both Spain and the Middle East.
Today Spain is predominately Catholic but for centuries both Christians and Muslims lived on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). For almost 700 years up until the 15th century they fought over control of the territories, sometime the Muslims ruled, sometimes the Christians. During the 14th century Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas from Spain. He returned with all kinds of exotic things, one of which was bell pepper seeds.
The Christians eventually won Spain back in the 17th century, banishing any Muslims who didn’t convert to Christianity. Reading between the lines here, bell peppers were by now part of Spanish cuisine and the exiled Muslims took seeds with them and made their own version—muhammara dip.
How fascinating that the humble bell pepper has such an interesting history
Ingredients for Romesco Sauce
Note: Do not skip the sweet paprika – it really adds flavor and uniqueness.
This sauce is great over a halibut or swordfish filet, a flavorful dip for shrimp and for raw or roasted vegetables. You can even make it ahead and freeze it for later.
Makes: 2 1/2 cups sauce/dip
Ingredients:
3 red bell peppers washed and cut into chunks
1 ½ cups whole cherry tomatoes
1 cup whole raw almonds
6 whole garlic cloves unpeeled
3 teaspoons kosher salt
3-4 tablespoons sherry vinegar
½ cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
Preheat oven to 475°
Directions:
Preheat oven. Wash, dry, and cut peppers into approximately 2” pieces. Toss the peppers with cherry tomatoes, garlic, ¼ cup of the oil and 1 ½ teaspoons of the salt. Tip onto a large baking sheet, don’t crowd the vegetables—you want them to roast, not steam. Place in the oven for 20 minutes, checking and stirring them at the halfway point. Set aside to cool. Put the almonds in a dry sauté pan and cook over medium high heat, Shake the pan occasionally so that they don’t burn. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until they start to smell fragrant.
Skin the garlic and place the cloves into a food processor along with the toasted nuts, the rest of the roasted vegetables (including any leftover flavored oil on the baking sheet), the paprika, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1½ teaspoons of kosher salt, and the remaining ¼ cup olive oil. Process the mixture, leaving it slightly chunky. Taste and adjust the seasoning and if the consistence is too thick for you add some more olive oil.