Saturday already?! How does this keep happening to me???
You may think I can’t start every single one of these bemoaning the passage of time but frankly it’s my party and I’ll bemoan the passage of time if I want to.
Autumn seems to have arrived with alarming accuracy this year. The clock ticked one second into the 1st of September and BAM conkers everywhere! New school shoes shine on every street corner! It raineth like it hasn’t raineth for a long old time. Said rain slams down onto the unripe tomatoes in my courtyard reminding me that things don’t always work out the way we plan, tomatoes do not ripen when they should, and I really should have cleared out my drains because there’s a hell of a lot of stinky water swirling around.
Not a huge deal of culture this week (followers of my sporadic instagram may have caught a quick visit to Tate Britain but that’s the extent of it)** so please enjoy the following recipe.
**SIDE NOTE** Just realised that Tate B is giving Mother in a very pleasing way **END OF SIDE NOTE**
Sort of Romesco Sauce
Okeydokey before you all scream “what in God’s name is Romesco sauce?” at me, let me tell you- I’m not really sure! Also, I’m right here- there’s realy no need to shout. All I know is that it comes from Spain (Espagna) and is made from red peppers and almonds. And that’s all I care to know because this isn’t an authentic sauce! This is something I whipped up one lunchtime and was very pleased I did thank you so much. Roasted red peppers are one of my absolute favourite flavours and this sauce is very much the flavour of roasted red peppers so if you’re not a fan of roasted red peppers then maybe this sauce isn’t for you and that’s ok.
It’s honestly ok.
If however, this is the sauce for you then follow the instructions below for The Sauce For You.
Task the first- roast two red peppers and one red onion (the theme here being red) with a bulb of garlic, a generous glug of oil (the usual drill - olive if rich (cash rich that is, not asset), rapeseed if not please no veg oil if at all poss) for 30-40 minutes in a hot oven (180 degrees will do it).
Task the second- Toast a generous handful of almonds in a pan but DON’T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF IT FOR ONE GODDAM SECOND AS SOON AS YOU DO THEY IMMEDIATELY BURN IT’S LIKE THEY KNOW. HOW DO THEY KNOW?
Once the veg are sweet and soft and a little charred, throw them in a blender (mine’s a nutribullet- still not sponsored) with as much as the soft, also sweet garlic as you fancy (I’d do four cloves and save the rest for smearing on toast or my body- your life, your choice).
Other things that now go into the blender include:
Salt and pepper.
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiig glug or two of olive oil (you’re gonna taste it).
Splash of vinegar (red wine preferably).
your toasted (not burnt) almonds.
some soft herbs- I had basil and mint .
Optional extras include
Some sundried tomatoes you found int he back of your cupboard/fridge.
Dried chilli.
Fresh chilli!
That’s it! Whizz it all up, taste it and then if you want it a bit looser add oil. If you want it sharper add more vinegar. You want it more salty? Add some salt you idiot.
Ok, so you’ve got your zingy, slightly smokey, sour, sweet delicious sauce, now what?! Well here’s the great news. This sauce is good on just about everything.
Fish? Tick
Meat? Tick
Eggs? Tick
Cheese? Tick
Tofu? Tick
Smeared on a sandwich? Tick
You get it.
I have -so far- used mine for two delicious lunches.
One lunch
A pan toasted tortilla (wrap) smeared (stop saying smeared) with a generous smear (can’t stop) of Sort of Romesco Sauce (caps for respect), topped with two soft scrambled cheesy eggs, some pink pickled onions, chives and chive flowers. Obviously I only put chive flowers on because I had some growing and they look nice they are completely superfluous (as are the chives tbh).
Two lunch
Smear (won’t stop) the plate with Sort of Romesco Sauce, top with some bulgar wheat, some pan fried courgettes, halloumi, pink pickled onions (I have some in the fridge, okay?), a chopped up pickle (like a gherkin pickle not an onion pickle, we already did that), some nuts if you like, fresh herbs if you like and a good squeeze of lemon.
Both lunches (one and two) were very, very good and I’d say that’s 90% down to the SOR Sauce, 6% down to being properly seasoned (salt at every stage you animals) and 4% down to me having some nice stuff in the fridge.
Goodbye
I hope this week has the space you need to feel what you feel. Are you sad? The wonderful news is that you can pour that sadness into the world and she will hold it for you in the way she always does. Are you happy? Pour that out too! No matter how crowded this planet of ours gets, she always has space for you. All of you! Even the bits you don’t love. The world loves them. I love them.
See ya x
Appreciate you smearing your sweet bloggy goodness all over our feeds once again dear Helen.
Thanks for the beautiful food and words. How can sadness be poured into the world? Poetry, music, art?