One Stop Shop Romesco Sauce

We’ve only been home for a few weeks from our three week trip around Europe and I’m still dreaming about the pasta in Italy. Luckily, I had this recipe up my sleeve for those first few nights when all I wanted was pasta and a simple sauce. I still haven’t mastered handmade pasta, but I feel like this sauce is a winner.

What I love about this recipe is that it’s not only super simple to make but it’s also extremely forgiving and versatile. I’ve made it using a food processor and had it as a more traditional romesco, and I’ve also made it in a high speed blender and had it as smooth sauce. Like I said, versatile.

It can also go with just about anything. My personal favorites are with chickpea or lentil pasta with steamed kale {shown here} seared scallops or halibut and roasted cauliflower or broccolini, on top of turkey meatballs {recipe coming soon!} and spaghetti squash, or roasted vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and eggplant.

Paleo Romesco Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 red bell peppers, roasted*
• 1/4 cup almonds, toasted
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. On a parchment lined backing sheet, place washed and dried red bell peppers {and tomato if using}. Roast until they start to char, about 20-30 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and let cool until you can handle them with your fingers.
4. While the peppers are cooling, toast your almonds in a toaster oven or your oven. To toast in the oven, spread on a baking sheet and toast at 350 degree for 5-7 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through. Once it hits the 4 minute mark keep an eye on them! You don’t want them to burn. Remove from oven and let cool.
5. Once peppers have cooled, peal as much of the char off as possible.
6. Combine all ingredients except parsley in a food processor*. Purée until everything is well combined and the sauce is slightly chunky.
7. Pulse in shopped parsley.
8. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-4 days.

*This recipe is super forgiving. You can add 1-2 medium tomatoes if you want more tomato flavor, or use 2 red bell peppers and 2 medium tomatoes. It all tastes good! If you want to make it a more creamy and fatty, try using a 1/2 cup almonds, or 1-2 more tbsp of olive oil.

**You can also blend everything in a high speed blender if you want a smooth tomato sauce. I highly recommend it on spaghetti squash.

Chunky Italian Tomato Sauce

In making my original romesco sauce, I realized that I didn’t have whole tomatoes, so instead I used canned diced tomatoes made a version of it. This is another great, more tomato forward sauce that is perfect for your next Italian date night.

Ingredients

• 2 red bell peppers
• 24 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup almonds, toasted
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley {optional}

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast red bell pepper until they start to char.
2. While the bell pepper is roasting, sauté onion and garlic with salt until lightly browned.
3. Add in diced tomatoes and oregano, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
4. Once the bell peppers are browned, peel off the skin and de-seed the bell peppers.
5. Combine bell peppers and toasted almonds in a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
6. Stir in bell pepper sauce to the simmering tomato sauce and add chopped parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve over your favorite gluten-free pasta with some steamed greens!

Enjoy!

XO

-S