Romesco sauce with summer beans

Babiche Martens

This romesco sauce is fresh and tasty. It is fabulous with freshly picked beans or used as a dipping sauce for a crudite platter. For the best results, use good quality ingredients. Roasting a pepper is easy. Place it in a very hot oven for 15-20 minutes until the skin is loose and looking roasted, then place it in a plastic bag. Once it has cooled, remove the skin and seeds. Add an extra chilli if you like it hot. The sauce is best eaten within three or four days.

Ingredients

1	Red chilli, chopped
2	Garlic cloves
3	Large ripe tomatoes, cut in quarters
200 ml	Olive oil
1 to taste	Salt and pepper
2 slices	Ciabatta bread, or other bread, toasted
1	Pepper, roasted, skinned and seeds removed
2 Tbsp	Red wine vinegar
½ cup	Almonds, roasted or hazelnuts
400 g	Green beans (Main)

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 180C.
2. For the sauce: place the tomatoes, garlic, chilli and half the oil on a lined baking dish.
3. Roast for 15 minutes until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Into a food processor place the tomato mix, bread and pepper. Blitz, slowly drizzling in the remaining oil and vinegar.
5. Add the nuts and blitz until crushed but not too fine. Season with extra pepper and salt if needed.
6. Into a large pot of salted boiling water cook the beans for 1 minute, so they will remain crunchy.
7. Drain, place into a serving bowl and spoon over the romesco sauce.