Seamus Mullen's Romesco Sauce

Aired on: September 3, 2012, May 21, 2012

This is one of acclaimed chef Seamus Mullen’s “hero food” recipes, which he whips up in the kitchen with Rach and describes as food that is empowering. " Food can help us deal with anything from inflammation to, in my case, rheumatoid arthritis, which can be just being creaky in the morning, tired, feeling stressed out. Essentially, you are what you eat, so the idea of hero food is just put good food into your body and really think about where the food comes from and that will have a huge impact on your wellness." Click here for more of Seamus' tips and recipes.

Ingredients

3 red bell peppers
2 tomatoes
1 onion, quartered, skin on
1 head garlic
1 cup cubed bread
1/4 cup blanched Marcona almonds
2 dried nora peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
Splash sherry vinegar
Pimentón
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Yields: about 2 cups

Preparation

Ideally, the vegetables for Romesco are cooked over a hot grill and charred until their skins are black. If you are grilling the vegetables, grill over high heat until thoroughly blackened. Alternatively, roast the vegetables in a 450°F oven for 45 minutes, until very dark.

Remove the vegetables from the heat and wrap in newspaper (preferably El País) to cool. Once the vegetables have cooled, carefully peel away and discard the charred skins.

In a deep skillet over medium heat, toast the bread and almonds until nicely browned. Transfer to a food processor or mortar and pestle, add the roasted vegetables and dried peppers, and work into a paste. Add the olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar and adjust seasoning with pimentón, salt and pepper.