Salsa calçots (romesco)

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This is one of the different versions of the typical salsa to dip the calçots:

Recipe for 20 people:

5 small tomatoes grilled (tomacons escalivats)

2 bulbs of garlic

1 handful of toasted almonds

1 handful of no toasted almonds

2 handful of toasted hazelnuts

2 breakfast cookies (galetes Maria)

1 or 1/2 chilli (bitxo)

3 or 4 nyores (a dry pepper, look at http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebrotera)

3 or 4 pebrots secs de romesco (another kind of dry pepper)

olive oil

vinegar

salt

Take the tomatoes, put them in a dish. Prick each tomato twice with a fork. Put them in the microwave for few minutes until they appear to be cook. Peel them an put them in a bowl. Repeat more or less the same with the garlic. Peal 2 bulbs of garlic, put them in the microwave and then add them in the bowl. Take a large handful of toasted almonds, another handful of almonds (not toasted) and 2 more of toasted hazelnuts and crush them (you can do it with the "un, dos tres" easily and not so easily with a "morter"). Add the crushed nuts to the bowl. Crush the cookies, "nyores", "pebrots de romesco" and chilli; add them to the bowl.

Now, add oil, vinegar and salt to the bowl, take the mixer and mixt it! It is impossible to say how much oil, salt and vinegar you will need. But 1) you need much more oil than vinegar. 2) Taste it! If it is bland it needs more salt and oil. 3) It needs to be a sauce to dip the calçots in it, if it is too thick the sauce you won't be able to dip the calçots if it is too thin it won't stay on the calçot.... But, don't worry... even if you don't believe it before doing it, you will know when its ok. (Some recipes I found over internet say 80cl. of oil for 100 gr of nuts)

Tips:

• Nyores and pebrots the romesco, are names difficult to pronounce but, they are easy to find in local shops (usually vegetables shops).

• You can buy just not toasted almonds, and toast them in the microwave. If you do so, be careful, cook for couple of minutes and mix, a couple more and mix.. and so on, until done.

• The following web pages explain in images and in english how to do the sauce and the calçots .... in Vancouver!

http://www.eatingclubvancouver.com/2010/01/grilled-calcots-green-onions-with-salsa.html

http://www.eatingclubvancouver.com/2010/01/salsa-romesco-queen-of-catalan-sauces.html