Vegetable Salad with Romesco Sauce
Submitted by food lover
Spanish-style vegetable salad dressed in a smoky, nutty romesco sauce made from roasted tomatoes, garlic, and almonds. A showstopping side that feeds a crowd.
YIELD
10 servingsPREP
45 minCOOK
45 minREADY
90 minRomesco sauce is one of those Spanish pantry secrets that turns simple vegetables into something you can’t stop eating.
Roasted tomatoes and garlic get blitzed with toasted almonds, breadcrumbs, and a kick of crushed red pepper into a thick, nutty dressing with real depth.
That sauce coats tender potatoes, crisp green beans, zucchini, cucumber, olives, and chopped hard-cooked egg for a salad that’s hearty enough to anchor a spread.
Let it sit at room temperature for an hour before serving. The vegetables soak up the romesco and the flavors meld into something much greater than the sum of its parts.
Kitchen Tips
- Roast the tomato until it’s blistered and starting to collapse. That caramelization is where the sauce gets its smoky sweetness.
- Soak the sliced onion in cold water for 10 minutes to mellow its bite. Skip this and it’ll overpower everything.
- Blanch the green beans and zucchini separately since they cook at different rates, then shock in ice water to lock in color and crunch.
- This salad improves overnight in the fridge. Make it the day before a party and save yourself the stress.
Ingredients
Directions
To prepare the romesco sauce: Put the tomato and garlic into a small baking pan and roast in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender and starting to brown.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet set on medium Add the bread crumbs and almonds, cooking until golden.
Purée the roasted tomato and garlic in a food processor. Add the bread crumb mixture, processing until the almonds are very finely chopped. Add the crushed pepper, cayenne, salt, 4 tablespoons vinegar and the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Process until thickened.
To prepare the salad: Cut the potato in half, place in a minutes. Drain; peel and cut into thin slices.
Cover the onion with cold water and set aside 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the beans and cook 5 minutes, until tender. Remove the beans with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water. Bring the water back to a boil, add the zucchini and time 1 minute. Add to the beans in the ice water. When chilled, drain and pat dry.
Combine the potatoes, onions, beans, zucchini, cucumber, with the dressing. Let sit 1 hour at room temperature or refrigerate for longer storage. Stir in the remaining tablespoon vinegar if needed.
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