This is a very rustic, simple breakfast, yet it remains a family favorite. It seems ridiculous to write out this recipe or suggest this as a breakfast idea, but after seeing it on several tapas menus, I thought it might be worthwhile. This is ideal when you have some good, crusty bread laying around and a ripe Campari or Roma tomato.
You will need:
Slice of a baguette or ciabatta bread
Splash of olive oil (1 tbs)
1-2 ripe Campari or Roma tomatoes
1 tsp minced garlic
Scrunch of fresh ground salt
Steps:
Heat a sauté pan or skillet to medium and add olive oil when hot
Heat bread in olive oil, making sure to allow the side that will have tomatoes to develop a nice crust
Add garlic and tomatoes. They should get blisteringly hot and soft. You can do this beside the bread if your pan is large enough.
Smear the crushed tomatoes across the top of the bread and add the tiniest scrunch of salt to bring out the tomato flavor.
For those of you that don’t know, Romesco is a rich, multi-purpose sauce made of roasted red peppers & tomatoes that goes amazingly well with fish, vegetables, and spread on a great quality bread. It is traditionally thickened with almonds and bread, and the result is a garlicky, smoky masterpiece that you will find pairs with everything, especially eggs.
To make this traditionally, you would roast and char the tomatoes & peppers, however, what follows is a quick and easy cheat, where I let others do the work for me. Also, I skip thickening it with bread so those in my family avoiding gluten can eat without thought. Regardless of how you make it, make sure to give the sauce time to rest before serving.
It’s okay to cheat. I promise.
You will need:
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained
5 roma tomatoes
1 cup almonds, roasted*
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs red wine vinegar
Steps:
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Arrange almonds on baking sheet and lightly roast for 6-8 minutes. *If you are busy, you can skip roasting the almonds, although roasting them brings out their flavor more.
In a food processor, chop almonds until they are fine. Then, blend garlic, almonds and tomatoes until it is a paste
Add in red peppers, parsley, paprika, salt & pepper. Add in vinegar, then olive oil, a little at a time until smooth and the desired consistency. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and allow to fall to room temperature when serving.
Store in the fridge. Anyone else keep their fresh herbs in a glass of water in the fridge?
Serving ideas: This is great with fish, eggs, steak, and grilled vegetables such as eggplant. Personally, I love it smeared on a crusty baguette or ciabatta with a little olive oil. Often, we use it at breakfast. A common breakfast I make in the morning is chicken sausage (usually sundried tomato) with some tomato and sweet potato topped with romesco. This is great for those who are watching their intake of carbs or fat, or looking for a healthy start to the day.
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