The simple roast capsicum sauce Romesco is a great way to dress up lamb cutlets, chicken, seafood or vegies.
Romesco is a Spanish sauce from the region of Catalonia, where it’s served as a dip for local spring onions, called calçots, that are traditionally charred over open fires; thick green onions make a great alternative in Australia. Leftover sauce keeps for up to a week in the fridge.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 12 lamb cutlets or lamb loin chops
- 16 thick green onions or spring onions
- extra virgin olive oil, for rubbing
- salt flakes, to taste
- crusty bread, for serving
Romesco Sauce
- 2 red capsicums
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 red onion, peeled and cut into eighths
- 1 long red chilli
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for rubbing
- 100g blanched almonds
- 50g skinned hazelnuts
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sweet smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt flakes
Method
Preheat oven to 240°C.
Remove lamb from the fridge 30 minutes or so before cooking to bring it to room temperature.
Make Romesco Sauce: Place capsicum, garlic, onion, chilli and tomatoes in a baking dish. Rub with oil and bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast almonds and hazelnuts in a dry frying pan for a few minutes, until lightly coloured. Set aside.
Remove onion, garlic, tomato and chilli from the oven.
Return capsicum to the oven for a further 20–30 minutes, until skin is blackened.
Meanwhile, peel tomatoes, squeeze garlic out of the skins, peel chilli and discard seeds and set them all aside with the onion.
Place capsicum in a bowl and cover until cool enough to handle, then peel and discard seeds.
Place capsicum, tomato, onion, chilli, garlic, nuts, vinegar, paprika and salt in a food processor and blend into a paste. With the motor running, drizzle in oil. Set aside.
Trim most of the dark green tops off the green onions, leaving about 14cm above the bulb. Trim off the root, discard any wilted outer leaves, rinse, pat dry, rub well with oil and place in a baking dish in the oven for 30 minutes or so, until well coloured and tender, turning the overhead grill on for the last few minutes if necessary to make them slightly charred. This can be done while roasting vegetables for Romesco Sauce.
Heat a chargrill pan or frying pan over medium–high heat.
Rub cutlets with oil and sprinkle with salt.
Cook for 3 minutes or so each side, until cooked to your liking.
Serve with charred onions, Romesco Sauce and plenty of bread.
You’ll find a print-friendly version of this recipe here as well as a step-by-step video of how to make Romesco Sauce.
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Also read: Spinach and Cheese Filo Triangles
