Shrimp with Romesco Sauce

shrimp romesco served with shaved asparagus

Romesco is a thick Spanish sauce...great on vegetables, seafood or meat and even as a dip. It's an easy way to use up a little leftover baguette (those baguettes are pretty long, so it's not unusual to have extra). But I wouldn't go out and buy one just to make this, because then you'll just have more leftover. (It's a vicious cycle.) Instead, I would just toss in any plain (preferably fresh) breadcrumbs.

I can't seem to resist buying new adorable pasta shapes I've never seen before. This one is called riccioli and as my daughter pointed out, it looks just like the boing-boing curly hair on a character in one of her books (Susan from Ramona the Pest). Maddie thoroughly enjoyed eating (and yanking on) the boings.
 

SHRIMP WITH ROMESCO SAUCE

Yield: 6-8 servings

1/4 cup slivered almonds

2 thin slices French bread (about 4 x 3 x 1/4 inches each)

2 cloves garlic

2 large roasted red peppers (or 14 oz. jarred roasted red peppers, drained)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar or red wine vinegar

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 lb. raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

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1.      Stir almonds in heavy skillet over medium heat until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer almonds to processor.

2.      Place bread in same skillet and cook until lightly toasted, about 1 minute per side. Tear bread into pieces and add to processor (don’t clean skillet).

3.      With machine running, drop garlic through feed tube and process until almonds and garlic are finely chopped.

4.      Add red peppers, oil, vinegar and cayenne pepper and process until mixture is consistency of thick mayonnaise, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.  Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

5.      Wipe skillet clean of breadcrumbs and heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink on both sides and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side.

6.      Arrange cooked shrimp on plates. Spoon romesco sauce over and serve.

adapted from Bon Appétit, May 1995

toasting almonds

toasting bread
(I used three slices because they were really small)

almonds and bread in food processor

almonds and bread processed into crumbs

everything else added (except shrimp)

romesco sauce

raw shrimp in pan

shrimp cooked

riccioli draining

shrimp with romesco sauce

Great plain or served with pasta, rice or couscous.

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Sesame Cumin Pita Crisps

I really love dark sesame oil. It's so toasty and fragrant. It adds tons of flavor and even has a nutty quality (which makes it a great peanut oil substitute, for anyone out there who is peanut challenged).

These chips are just so easy to whip up. If you already have pita bread, it would probably take you longer to buy a bag of pita chips than make these at home. It's a great way to extend the life of leftover pita bread and get your sesame fix. And even though they taste great dipped in hummus, they're equally good on salad in place of croutons. You can even slice them into super cute thin strips if you're making them specifically as salad toppers. Just make sure you keep an eye on them so they don't burn (neither super, nor cute).

SESAME CUMIN PITA CRISPS

Makes about 3 cups

6 tablespoons Asian sesame oil

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

a few pinches of salt

3 (5- to 6-inch) pitas

1.      Preheat oven 350° F.

2.      In a small bowl stir together the oil and cumin.

3.      Halve the pitas horizontally to form 6 rounds and brush the rough sides of the rounds with the oil mixture.

4.      Cut each round into 3/4-inch triangles. Spread the triangles on a sheet pan and sprinkle lightly with salt.

5.      Bake in the middle of the oven, shaking the pan every 3 to 4 minutes, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are golden. Toss the crisps with additional cumin and salt if desired and let cool.

6.      The crisps keep in an airtight container for 1 week.

Gourmet, June 1990

ground cumin

ground cumin mixed with sesame oil

slicing pita along the edge

sliced open pita halves

brushing pita with sesame/cumin oil

slicing into triangles (a pizza cutter works nicely)

sprinkled lightly with salt and ready to bake

baked and golden

crispy crisps

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Hummus

dipping a sesame cumin pita crisp into hummus

There are so many brands of hummus now (some pretty good ones too), that I've gotten really used to buying it and haven't made it from scratch in a long time. So I wanted to remind myself of how nice it is to make fresh.

One of the best things about cooking is having the ability to make something exactly how you like it. For me, that means heavy on the garlic and lemon juice in my hummus. Of course you can add all kinds of ingredients to personalize yours (roasted red peppers, olives, sundried tomatoes, chipotle peppers). Whatever humps your camel (according to urbandictionary.com, that's synonymous with "whatever floats your boat"). Seemed appropriate for hummus.

HUMMUS

(Yield: 4 cups)

4 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups cooked chickpeas* (or drained canned chickpeas), liquid reserved

2/3 cup well stirred tahini

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (or less to taste)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or more to taste)

for serving:

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted lightly

toasted pita chips

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1.        On a cutting board mince and mash the garlic to a paste with the salt.

2.        In a food processor purée the chickpeas with the garlic paste, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and 1/2 cup reserved bean water, scraping down the sides, until the hummus is smooth.

3.        Add more bean water, if necessary, to thin hummus to desired consistency.  Season with salt to taste.

4.        Scoop hummus into serving dish and smooth the top.  Sprinkle with pine nuts and minced parsley. Serve with toasted pita chips.

*To cook dried chickpeas:
Soak 1 cup dried chickpeas in water overnight. Drain and rinse. Put soaked beans in a saucepan with enough fresh water to cover by at least 3 inches. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour (or until cooked through). Drain beans; save bean cooking water.

slightly adapted from ‘The Best Recipes in the World’ by Mark Bittman

dried chickpeas

chickpeas starting their soak (nighty, night)

good morning soaked chickpeas

chickpeas cooking

garlic cloves

mashing the garlic and salt into a paste
(the salt helps break down the garlic)

tahini sauce

lemons

all ingredients ready to mix

hummus

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