Romesco Sauce

Roasted peppers, tomatoes, and almonds blended together makes a delicious Spanish romesco sauce that goes great on protein and rice bowls.

What is Romesco Sauce?

Romesco sauce is a tomato and roasted red pepper base with garlic and almonds to add flavor. The sauce originated from Catalonia to be served with fish. Romesco goes great with anything coming off the grill, and you can learn more about it here. I love to put it on potatoes, pasta, or use as a sauce in my rice bowls. Romesco reminds me of pesto since it is an oil, vegetable, and nut blend served as a sauce.

Roasting Peppers

I am all about ease, so for this recipe, I used a jar of roasted red peppers. That way I only had to drain the excess liquid and add the peppers to the food processor. But, if you’re feeling fancy or want to learn a new cooking trick, let’s talk about roasting peppers. The best way to get the lovely black char on the outside of roasted red peppers is to hold them over an open flame. If you have a gas stove this is really easy! Just turn on a burner and pick up a pepper with tongs. Next, hold the pepper in the flame and rotate it until it’s roasted with black char all around.

If you don’t have a gas stove, you can get a similar effect in the oven. Set the oven to broil and place peppers on a baking sheet on the top rack. Watch the peppers and as they start to char, flip the pepper so all sides get close to the heating element.

Whichever way you cooked the pepper, the next step it to place them in a sealed bag or covered bowl. The steam will peel the skin off. When the pepper is cool to the touch, peel off the skin and cut out the seeds. Now you have homemade roasted peppers!

Roasting Chickpeas

Another one of my favorite things to roast is chickpeas. Chickpeas or garbanzo beans get a nice crispy outside when you roast them in the oven. Plus, they are a good source of plant protein, so I love adding them to rice bowls. The trick to getting crispy chickpeas is to pat them dry once you rinse them. Then coat in oil and seasoning and bake at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes. For this batch, I added 1 tsp of paella seasoning (like this one) to a can of rinsed and dried chickpeas for a tasty smoked paprika flavor.

Building a Bowl

Rice bowls are one of my favorite meals because I can have all the components prepped, they’re easy to make, and they’re delicious and filling! What’s not to love? So, for this bowl with Spanish flavors like romesco sauce and paprika. To build the bowl, I made my sauce and spiced chickpeas ahead of time, so they are read to enjoy.

When it’s time to eat, I layer in

• brown rice
• romesco sauce
• paprika spiced chickpeas
• diced tomatoes
• black olives
• hemp hearts

Brown rice is a great whole grain that’s easily accessible, but you can sub in your favorite whole grain. Chickpeas give the bowl some protein. Tomatoes give s fresh flavor while olives give some saltiness. Finally, hemp hearts add a bit of crunch along with some omega-3 fatty acids. A delicious and fresh bowl all around! If you want more rice bowl recipes, check out my favorite yumm bowl combo here.

Romesco Sauce

Roasted peppers, tomatoes, and almonds blended together makes a delicious Spanish romesco sauce that goes great on protein and rice bowls.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Course Sauce

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  

• 16 oz jar roasted red pepper
• ¼ cup tomatoes
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ tsp garlic
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paella seasoning optional
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper optional

Instructions

 

• Drain the liquid of the roasted red peppers. 
• In a food processor or blender, add all the ingredients and pulse until combined. Blend longer for a smoother texture and less for a chunkier texture. 

Notes

If you like a creamier texture, use ¼ cup almond butter instead of of almonds. If you don’t have paella seasoning, you can leave it out or substitute in smoked paprika. You can skip the crushed red pepper if you don’t want your sauce to be spicy. Or, feel free to add more if you’re looking for a hotter sauce. 

Spiced Chickpea Rice Bowl

Roasted peppers, tomatoes, and almonds blended together makes a delicious Spanish romesco sauce that goes great on protein and rice bowls.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Ingredients

  

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 tsp paella seasoning or paprika
• ½ cup cooked brown rice
• ¼ cup romesco sauce
• ¼ cup chopped tomatoes
• ¼ cup black olives
• 2 tbsp hemp hearts

Instructions

 

To cook the chickpeas-

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Then, pat them dry with a towel.
• Add the chickpeas to a bowl and drizzle with oil. Add the paella seasoning or paprika and toss to combine.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until the chickpeas are crispy on the outside.

To build the bowl-

• Place the coked brown rice in the bottom of the bowl. You may want to heat it up if it's been stored in the fridge.
• To the warm rice, add the romesco sauce, chickpeas, tomatoes, and olives.
• Sprinkle the hemp hearts on top and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Paella seasoning is a blend of spices commonly used to make paella. The main flavor is smoked paprika, so you can easily substitute paprika in if you don’t have paella seasoning. The measurements to build the bowl are rough estimates, so you can build it to your liking increasing or decreasing the ingredients you prefer. The chickpeas will go quick once you start snacking on them!