If you learn to make no other sauce, then I would encourage you to learn this.

It takes 5 minutes to make in a food precessor and goes with absolutely everything.  You cam go old school and roast and peel red peppers, but if you like a short cut, then a jar of roast peppers works just as well.   Try it with grilled chicken or fish, use it as a dip or toss it into some pasta, its also yummy spread on sandwiches or burgers (I feel myself turning to Bubba describing all the ways you can eat shromp in Forrest Gump, but you get the idea).

The sauce is originally from Spain, and most families have their own recipe, so don’t be afraid to tweak it to suit yourself.  I had some cherry tomatoes that were going soft so I roasted them in the oven beforehand, but if you don’t have time to do this, use a jar of sun dried tomatoes.  This recipe makes a fairly big batch, but you can reduce the amounts.  The sauce can live in your fridge for 4-5 days, but you may tempted to take spoonfuls of it every time you pass the fridge.

Ingredients

100 Grams Blanched almonds (you could alao use hazelnuts)

650 Gram Jar of roasted red peppers, drained weight 400 Grams (well drained and roughly chopped)

2-3 Cloves of Garlic (roughly chopped)

250 Grams Roasted tomatoes (or a jar of sun dried tomatoes)

25-50mil Olive oil

1/2 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tbsp Red wine vinegar (I only had cider vinegar, ad it was fine)

Method

• Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse 3-4 times until they are well broken up
• Add the other ingredients (hold back some of the oil, as may not need it all)
• Whizz in the food processor until it starts to form a sauce.  Check the flavour and add the rest of the oil if you think it needs it.  Blitz some more until it has the consistency you like (I like mine fairly rustic and chunky, but you can continue blending until you have a super smooth sauce if that’s what you prefer.
• Refrigerate until ready to use (can be eaten hot or cold).