Sunday, July 08, 2007

Cavatappi with Purple Asparagus and Romesco Sauce


Several years ago, I clipped out a recipe for a sauce made with roasted red peppers and almonds. And then completely forgot about it during my roasted red pepper period, when I was making all of that muhammara and Slow Cooker Chicken Paprikash with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

On one of my Saturday walks with Bob we ended up at the Lincoln Park Green Market. There were big beautiful bunches of purple asparagus so I snapped up a couple. I wanted something lighter and fresher than my usual tomato-based sauce with which to prepare them - preferably something that I did not have to cook.

And that's when I remembered the Romesco sauce recipe that had been filed away and forgotten. After a little searching I found it and took a look at it and decided it might just be the perfect topping for my dish.

Now that summer is here, I am using the absorption method to cook my pasta. I have started using chicken stock instead of water, which makes it extra tasty. I sliced the asparagus and sauteed it in olive oil until it was just tender. I cooked the pasta, topped it with the warm asparagus, and covered both with the Romesco sauce, which I did not heat. It was exactly what I was hoping it would be - fresh, light, and incredibly flavorful.

And every time I went into the kitchen I would grab a spoon, open the refrigerator, and scoop out some of the Romesco sauce. I can't get enough of the stuff.
Home Cookin Chapter: Sauces

Romesco Sauce

1 dried ancho chili
2-4 red peppers, roasted and peeled
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 cups peeled hazelnuts, chopped and toasted
1/4 cup blanched almonds, chopped and toasted
2 Tbsp bread crumbs
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ancho
chili and cook approximately 1 minute on each side, until it just
starts to smoke. Remove it from the skillet, cut it in half and place
it in a bowl with 1 cup boiling water, or enough to cover. Let stand
for 15 minutes. Remove from water and chop.

Place hazelnuts and almonds in food processor bowl and process until
you have crumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the olive
oil and process until smooth. Keeping the processor running, gradually
add the rest of the olive oil until an emulsion forms.

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times, July 2006 issue.

Exported from Home Cookin 5.5 (www.mountain-software.com)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lynda again. I am definatly making the sauce, I just can't tell T it has nuts in it.

And I never got the email.

Weird.

dejamo said...

He shouldn't even notice the nuts, but they really add to the flavor.

I will email you again. Someday soon, I promise! It's past time I came out to Oak Park.

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