Asparagus with roasted tomato romesco
This recipe makes enough romesco for the asparagus and for you to have a jar leftover for the fridge. Whenever I make a sauce like this I make double to use in other meals throughout the week. It all also freeze well. If you would rather make just enough for this recipe then halve the romesco quantities.
You can of course roast your own peppers. I would use 2 regular red peppers in place of the jar. Either roast them under a hot grill of in the flame of a gas cooker until blackened all over then put in a covered bowl for 5 minutes then peel.
- Duration
- Difficulty
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika
- olive oil
- Sea salt
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
- 1 small slice of good bread torn (approx 75g)
- 75g of ground almonds
- A tablespoon of sherry vinegar
- A 200g jar of roasted red peppers (I use piquillo), drained
- 2-3 bunches of asparagus
- 1 lemon
- Optional: 50g of toasted blanched almonds, roughly chopped
Roast the tomatoes for the romesco
Pre heat your oven to 200C. Put the 250g tomatoes into a baking tray with a good pinch of sea salt, the teaspoon of smoked paprika and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and roast for 10 minutes until the tomatoes are soft.
Add the bread and almonds
After the tomatoes have had 10 minutes add the 2 sliced cloves of garlic and tear over the slice of bread. Put the 75g of ground almonds into a small baking tray and add both trays to the oven for 5 minutes until the bread and garlic are golden at the edges.
Blitz the romesco
Take the trays out of the oven and allow to cool a little then put the tomatoes, bread and all the juice into a food processor with the toasted almonds, the tablespoon of sherry vinegar and the roasted peppers and another 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Blitz until you have a smooth-ish silky romesco sauce. Taste and add more salt or vinegar if needed.
Cook the asparagus
Use a knife to cut the tough ends from the asparagus and then blanch in boiling water for 4 minutes until just cooked, then drain and leave to cool a little. Toss in a little more olive oil and salt and serve with the romesco, I like to finish with more salt, some lemon zest and sometimes some chopped toast almonds.
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