Roast Potatoes with Romesco Sauce

I would never consider myself a 'meat and potatoes' kind of a person.  Sure, I like them both well enough and I certainly do enjoy a crispy baked potato alongside a medium rare fillet mignon (even better if it has been wrapped in bacon!) or say, a pile of tender roast beef nestled next to a mound of creamy mashed potatoes rich with butter and blanketed in gravy, but those are rare treats for me.  Give me just potatoes, however, and I will be just as content.  

Most times, when I get my hands on potatoes they are roasted.  It is my preferred method because it is easy, pretty much hands off, and even better, you can eat them straight from the pan.  Not that I practice that regularly.

I would even venture to say that it is almost impossible to make more perfect a pile of salty roasted potatoes.  That is, until I made my first batch of Romesco sauce. That night, everything I knew about tomato-based foodstuff to dip, dunk, and smother potatoes in changed.  
  

If you have never had (or for that matter, made) romesco sauce before, it is a wonderful thing.  It is terribly easy to prepare (most of the ingredients are probably lurking in your ice box and cupboards) and it keeps in the ice box for ages. Think of it, if you will, as if an Italian was walking down the street with a bowl of pesto in hand and an American with some ketchup in tow was walking the same street.  Somehow, all of the sudden they both tripped and both the pesto and the ketchup combined and then a Spaniard came along with some roasted potatoes and......hold on- I digress....


  Let's put it this way: tomatoes are quickly pureed with some nuts, bread, vinegar, and a few other things and then bam! you have Romesco.

Now, I feel that I should be honest here.  The traditional way of making Romesco does not involve pita bread.  More like a slice of some good white or wheat bread (not the plastic super market kind, either); however, I didn't think it necessary to make an entire loaf of bread for just a meager one slice but I did have some whole wheat pita breads stashed in my freezer so that is why I called for them here.  Feel free to make the more traditional substitution of bread here, or if, like me, you keep a handy stash of pitas in the freezer, use them.  




3/4c. blanched, sliced, almonds
2 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
1/2 a large whole wheat pita, torn into pieces
....
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, drained and liquid reserved
1/4c. jarred pimentos
2 T. red wine vinegar
4t. paprika
Cayenne pepper, to taste
3T. olive oil
(salt & pepper, to taste)


-In a medium sized pan, gently toast the nuts, garlic, and pita.  Keep moving this around as the nuts are likely to burn if you are not careful.  All you are looking for is to bring out their toasty nuttiness, so don't be bothered if the bread has only crisped up and the garlic seems unchanged.
-Puree this in a food processor until it is similar to a fine rubble.  
-Add in the remaining ingredients and puree until everything is a gorgeously thick paste.  (If it is too thick, use the reserved tomato juice to thin, adding about 1 tablespoon at a time.)
-Season to taste.


I would recommend keeping this in the ice box for a minimum of one day (two is even better) in a glass jar or other air tight container to let the flavours come together.  This will also come in handy when you get home later that week and it was a hard day and all you want is an instant dinner.  Then, all you will have to do is cut a few potatoes, toss them with oil and salt, put them in a tray, and leave them in a hot oven (around 425-450) until they are golden on the outside and creamy on the inside (45-50 minutes).