Romesco PotatoesPrint Recipe

This recipe comes from one of my favourite cook books, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Its author Suzanne Goin never fails to please with her gift of producing recipes that can only be described as spectacular (the Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake being my favourite). In her usual style, she has matched a gorgeous, rich and bold sauce with your humble creamy potato to create a dish, that even someone so unmoved by potatoes, will swoon over.

The Romesco is a sauce that originates from Spain and is generally a blend of nuts, garlic, olive oil, mild peppers and tomato. It is incredibly aromatic and flavoursome but at the same time it’s actually quite hard to put your finger on what kind of flavour it is, being slightly sweet, slightly salty and slightly spicy at the same time. Generally this sauce gets served with seafood or poultry but in this case it is perfect for the plain potato.

This splendid dish has tapas written all over it, I can even imagine it would be good for a late breakfast with bacon and eggs. We ate it with a salad for lazy Sunday lunch – but seriously, anytime would be a good time!

Romesco
5 ancho chiles
2 tablespoons raw almonds
2 tablespoons blanched hazelnuts
1 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil
1 slice country bread, about 1-inch thick
1/3 cup crushed canned tomatoes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 lemon, for juicing
A splash of sherry vinegar
Sea salt

Potatoes
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (any size will work)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 bay leaves
6 springs thyme, plus 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 cup Romesco sauce (from above)
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Romesco Sauce
Preheat the oven to 375f. Remove and discard the seeds and stems from the chiles, then soak them in warm water for 15 minutes to soften. Strain the chiles, and pat dry with paper towels. Meanwhile, spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast for 8 to 10 minutes, until they smell nutty and are golden brown.

Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoon olive oil, when hot fry the slice of bread on both sides until golden brown. Remove the bread from the pan and cool. Cut it into 1-inch cubes and set aside.

Return the pan to the stove over high heat. Add 2 tablespoon olive oil and the chiles and sauté for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often until the tomato juices have evaporated. Turn off the heat and leave the mixture in the pan.

In a food processor, pulse together the toasted nuts, garlic and fried bread until the bread and nuts are coarsely ground. Add the chile-tomato mixture and process for 1 minute more. With the machine running, slowly pour in the remaining 1 cup of olive oil and process until you have a smooth purée. Don’t worry, the romesco will “break” (separate into solids and oil); this is normal. Add the parsley, season to taste with lemon juice, sherry vinegar and more salt, if you feel it needs it.

Potatoes
Place the potatoes in a roasting pan and toss well with 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic cloves, bay leaves, thyme sprigs and a heaping teaspoon of salt. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and roast the potatoes until tender when pierced (around 1 hour for larger potatoes and 30 minutes for the really small potatoes). Discard the bay leaf and the thyme and squeeze the garlic out of its skin and set aside. When the potatoes have cooled crumble them into chunky pieces with your hands (if you are using really small potatoes them leave them whole).

Heat a large saute pan over a high heat for a couple of minutes. (you may need to use 2 pans to avaoid over crowding) Pour in the remaining 2 tablespoons oil turn the heat to medium-high and wait 1 minute more. Add the potatoes, season with thyme leaves, salt and pepper and sauté them for 6 to 8 minutes until they are crispy on one side. (If they are stuck to the pan, don’t try to move them, they will eventually release themselves). After they’ve browned nicely on the first side, turn them until they color on all sides. Spoon the romesco sauce and reserved garlic over the potatoes and stir. Toss in the parsley and garnish with a little extra thyme of you wish.

Notes: The Romesco sauce can be made two weeks ahead and kept in the fridge. You can also make the dish a little ahead of serving it – just leave the potatoes in the pan with the heat turned off and just before serving reheat for a few minutes and add the parsley at the last minute.

Source: Suzanne Goin

© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.