Spanish cuisine · Vegetable Dishes

Calçots con Romesco

Young onions charred over the open flame, finished in paper and dipped into nutty romesco sauce.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 24 calçots (or young spring onions)
• 3 dried ñora peppers (or choricero peppers)
• 100 g almonds
• 50 g hazelnuts
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 slice white bread
• 3 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 150 ml olive oil
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Halve and deseed the ñora peppers and soak in hot water for 30 min until soft, then scrape the flesh off the skin with a spoon.
2. Roast the tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves at 200°C for 25 min until the tomato skins burst; add the almonds and hazelnuts for the last 8 min.
3. Fry the white bread in 2 tbsp olive oil until golden, then coarsely blend the nuts, the squeezed-out garlic, the tomato flesh, the ñora pulp, the bread, sherry vinegar and paprika.
4. Drizzle in the remaining olive oil in a thin stream until a coarse, glossy sauce forms, and season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Place the untrimmed calçots on the hot grill or directly over the flame and turn for 10–12 min until the outer layers are charred black and the hearts are tender.
6. Wrap the hot calçots in newspaper, let rest for 15 min, then peel off the charred skin and dip the soft onions into the romesco.