ROMESCO SAUCE

Steps:

• *Large tomatoes were quartered, medium sized halved and cherry tomatoes left whole for roasting.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. It's best to use a roasting pan with higher edges and not a cookie sheet (unless that's all you own.).
• Put the peppers on the baking sheet. Put the tomatoes, cut-side up, on the baking sheet and tuck in garlic and a bay leaf. Drizzle with olive oil.
• Roast about half an hour or until peppers are evenly blackened and tomatoes have shriveled to a deep russet red.
• Depending on the size of the tomatoes and peppers, they may cook at different rates. Remove the peppers as they blacken.
• (I know you're not supposed to do this, but I skipped peeling the bell peppers. The taste of the final product did not suffer in the least.)Put the peppers on a plate and cover with an upturned bowl until cool enough to handle. Rub off skins and seed the peppers.
• Discard the bay leaf. Squeeze garlic out of papery husk. *REMOVE* the cinnamon stick. Process the tomatoes and bell peppers including the liquid that is left over from roasting, in a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender along with the paprika, cayenne, smoked salt, ground chipotle powder, ginger, cumin, cloves and hazelnuts/almonds.
• With the motor running, gradually add the vinegar, then the olive oil until it is pureed. Season with salt and pepper.
• Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to a week. I often will float a bit of olive oil over the top to keep the air out.
• If the Romesco lasts longer than that, you didn't really like it.
• Tastes best warm or at room temperature.
• My serving suggestion: I baked a loaf of Recipe #235909 and spooned some of the romesco on the bread, followed by a scatter of Turkish feta, minced fresh cilantro and fresh winter savory and a shake of cracked black pepper.
• Yield is estimated.