The best Tomato Salad

So, is there anything better now in the summer than a tasty and beautiful tomato salad? Tomatoes are at their prime so it is quite easy to accomplish.
On the other hand not everyone is able to find those wonderful heirloom and tasty tomatoes. Some times the only thing you can find in the super market are those nice tomatoes from Poland that even though they look good and they last for a long time they lack taste.

So, can you make a nice salad using those everyday tomatoes? well you sure can with the help of our Spanish friends. Because they devised this wonderful condiment called Romesco sauce that can take even the worst of tomatoes and turn it into a dream. Seriously!!

Is it difficult to make? Not at all! and it is even better if you make a large batch and keep it in the freezer in doses so when ever you want it is readily available to impress your guests as I do impress mine.
In Spain where it comes from they serve it with lot's of things, even with fish or vegetable dishes. I even use it as a spread on home made sourdough bread and they cannot have enough of it.

The good thing as well is that it is made with things that you could have at home right now. So check on the list of ingredients and get cracking!
Yesterday we had a couple from the USA for dinner who loved it so much so I gave them a small tub of it to take back home..

Diffuculty: 1 of 3

Duration:40 minutes

Serves:20

Ingredients

For the sauce

1 red pepper cut in half seeds removed

1 onion (red preferably, cut in half and sliced thinly

4 cloves of garlic skin on

1 tomato cut in half

2 slices of bread

1 tbsp almonds

1 tbsp walnuts

2 tbsp pepita nuts

salt and pepper

paprika

olive oil

white wine vinegar

For the salad

various tomatoes

olives

pesto

what ever you can think of

Method

Turn on the grill in the oven.

In a pan we add the onions in two little piles and we cover them with the pepper. Next to it we place the garlic, tomato and bread. We need the onions covered so that they do not burn.

Place the pan in the oven and remove the bread after a few minutes when toasted. Continue cooking the rest for about 20 minutes till the peppers and nicely charred and our kitchen starts smelling wonderfully.

In the meantime in a little skillet roast the nuts till they get a bit of colour.

Remove the pan from the oven and place everything in the food processor. Keep the skin of the peppers but remove the skin from the tomatoes and garlic. Add the bread, the nuts from the skillet, salt, pepper, paprika and a bit of olive oil.

Start mixing and tasting and adding more oil and vinegar. Remove from the food processor when you have a fine paste and taste wonderfully.

Divide in small bowls and freeze it.

As for the salad we prepare one by placing tomatoes and all other ingredients that we feel like on a platter. Add teaspoons of the sauce on the tomato, salt and pepper, drizzle with some olive oil etc... Mix it all up and taste it!!!!