Go to the Recipe: Hazelnut Pistachio Romesco
Do you have to use a can of roasted red peppers or can you use fresh peppers instead?
You can use fresh peppers, but you'd have to roast them and peel them to get the same outcome. Canned peppers are already roasted and peeled, so it just helps you skip that step. Here's a recipe that helps you start with fresh peppers: http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/romesco
Fresh peppers wouldn't taste the same. Roasted peppers are really easy to make yourself and MUCH better than anything in a can or a jar. Get em when they're cheap at the produce stand and do a large batch on the grill. They freeze well. Cut em on the lobes so you have flat pcs. Give em a minute on the flesh side then flip and roast until the skin is charred black. Keep adding the done ones to a covered bowl the steam will loosen the skin and cook them some more. The traditional way is to put them in a paper bag. When your done with them all let em cool and the charred skin slides right off. Put em in a little olive oil with shaved garlic and a tiny bit on anchovie paste. You'll never settle for a jar again. Make a ton they go really well with a hard salty cheese and red wine
The parmesan made this sauce much too salty and I am not salt averse.
When I made the romesco, I ended up needing to use quite a bit more oil in order to get the puree to blend. Is that a function of my underpowered blender not doing a proper job? Can I address this by blending things in a certain order? Like add all the oil and vinegar and nuts, and then slowly add the cheeeez and red peppers as the puree thickens.
I used the same overall amount of cheeez, but I cut the Parmigiano with Manchego. 3:1 Italy to Spain.
I like that idea. Will give it a try
Hm...! It's probably more the design of the blender pitcher than it is the blender being underpowered. Blend, stir, blend, stir should help. Adding the cheese later should also help. Let us know if you still have trouble.
I m sorry, i m from Barcelona ans this recipe is more like a red pesto than a Romesco, in Valls where this sauce is like a sacret thing we dont have parmesan cheese, we dont use roast peppers we use nyores which is a dried round sweet pepper, hard to find out of our area, true... But still, anyway... And thick it up we use toast bread. The rest, well, traditionally is toast almonds and toast hazelnuts, but the pistachios could be and interesting twist... Anyway. You can find a traditional romesco sauce here, it is in catalan but google can "translate" it.
Yeah I had to put in a bunch more oil to once I added the cheese, let's say maybe 60g more, which got to be a bit too much olive oil taste for me. Also the romesco was quite heavy on the hazelnuttaste so that would be adjusted to less hazelnut for me. I'm sad to say that this was no favorite in our house, although the Turkish yogurt helped allot to balance the romesco out (which is used in your recipe with the pork chops).
I just made this with macadamia nuts instead of hazelnuts and it tastes ridiculously awesome. If the hazelnuts are too strong for you, try macadamia instead. The sauce was pretty thick, but I didn't have to add any oil to it in order to get it to blend. I used a powerful stick blender. The sauce was thick enough that it could hold a shape and not run. I'm not sure if that's the intended texture or not.
I made it with almonds instead of hazelnuts and it was OK but the raw garlic taste was strong. If I try again I'll use roast garlic.
You had tomatos in the vidéo but not in the recipe, I think tomatoes should be in
That's a different recipe, Yannik; see link for "Romesco" above. I make this version all the time and I promise it is super-delicious sans tomatoes.
Phil,
When I'm serving this to guests I actually do half the amount of raw garlic—some people are really sensitive to it.
Because ingredients always vary in taste and strength, I like to make this Romesco with the original proportions but then taste as I blend. It's really versatile but I've had the best results starting with these amounts and tweaking from there. The one time I tried it in a more freewheeling way, it didn't come together as well flavor-wise.
I came here specifically to see if I forgot to add tomatoes. Was confused why this recipe skips the tomato, but regardless of that, I completely agree. This is really delicious! Eating some right now.
I tasted after making to the specified proportions and thought it seemed a bit to salty. Added some extra hazelnut to cut the saltiness and it was perfect. Last time I made this there was no adjustment required. Just depends on the ingredients.
Sorry if this posted twice. I am allergic to tree nuts. Any thoughts about making this with pumpkin seeds?
I am allergic to tree nuts. Any thoughts on making this with pumpkin seeds?
I'm allergic to tree nuts. Any thoughts on making this with pumpkin seeds instead?
I also made it with Macadamia nuts in place of hazelnuts and pistachios. I cooked the garlic a bit, as I don't like raw garlic and based on the comments. I did go with the oil. Holy moly is this fantastic.
Instead of sherry ,can i use apple vinegar?
Hello there, I'm very surprised about this recipe! as far as I know, romesco sauce does not call for any cheese at all... where have you found it?
More common is to use roasted garlic, roasted tomatoes, and roasted pepper, yes, special one, can be nyora/romesco pepper :-)
Made the written recipe above but with a few swaps: used flaked almonds instead of hazelnuts and red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar. Also made own red peppers by just blackening pepper skins on gas hob, putting in a bowl under cling film for 10 mins then peeling off. The sauce tasted fantastic, a nice alternative to pesto, will definitely make again.
What would one serve this with?
I did the souse vide pork and saw this as part of a larger recipe. I made this and offered the neighbors just a taste. Next thing I knew crackers were flying out of the cupboard and one of two pyrex bowls was a goner. No one double dipped to be sure but the response was "what is this stuff? It's amazing!". Guess we have a winner here. The possibilities for this sauce are pretty limitless. Immediately a spread for a pork sandwich is on the lunch menu today. Perhaps some linguini with...whatever else you want to throw in for dinner tonight!
Thanks to all at ChefSteps. My kids and I enjoy watching your videos and it actually prompts them to say "can we try that?
KL in LA
Can this be frozen?
You left the tomatoes out of the romesco. Roasted tomatoes are a key ingredient
Sorry, but I think this one needs to be modified / clarified... 1) if using can or jar peppers, do you drain or not drain. [I think this is the reason some people are needing more oil or liquid to blend] 2) If using can or jar peppers + cheese + salted shelled pistachios + salt AKA salt on salt on salt on salt [So if jar or can of peppers and or salted pistachios {rinse salt off if needed and toast dry}, then do not add the additional salt, only add salt to taste after if using fresh peppers and unsalted shelled pistachios] 3) This is a delicious Roasted Red Pepper Pesto not a Romesco 4) optional, but highly recommend steaming corn on the cob [retain some corn water if more liquid needed for blend with fresh peppers] then char on the grill for some black/brown color, then remove from cob and add for texture and flavor after blending. especially if already roasting your own peppers! Good luck, happy cooking
Chef Allan
My Vitamix just froze up on me making this!?! Added a bunch more olive oil and transferred to my food processor and a tomato for more liquid and it’s still thicker then expected but my kids are going to kill me for killing the “smoothie factory” 😬
This recipe has WAY to much salt.. just don’t add it. Followed this exactly and it was almost inedible. Also needs less garlic.
Disappointed. I foolishly followed the recipe as I'm new to ChefSteps. It was too salty and I'm a fan of salt. I tweaked it somewhat by adding other things but not sure if it really will be edible.
Served it today - to rave reviews. re salt - I think that's mostly a function of the Parmesan. Some are saltier than others. Next time I might dial back the quantity.
re issues caramelizing carrots: - my old way was to put the carrots and some reasonable amount of butter in the pan, cover the carrots with water to a depth of about 1cm, then boil the water off, and finally let the carrots caramelized. That seemed to be a bit less risky.
This was very tasty and a great accompaniment to the grilled potatoes. I added some of the liquid from the jar of peppers to thin it out some, as it seized up in my Vitamix. Delicious!
Hi Joe - I found adding the liquid from jarred roasted peppers solved this problem; plus the added bonus of the flavorful brine!
I doubled the recipe to account for the size of the jar of red peppers I bought (340g). Doing this was a mistake. It was much too difficult for my vitamix, even with the extra liquid from the can. I had to add about another quarter cup of olive oil just to get it moving.
It is also clearly too salty. Omit the salt from the recipe, the parm has enough.
With the salt adjustment, however, it is delicious.
