I don’t often order sides anymore, but occasionally when I do I have something that changes my life.
Years ago, there was a side at The Hardware Club, a great Italian in the CBD that just had all the perfect flavours for me. Since then, I’ve been making a side inspired by the one I had that night, chasing the same perfect balance of flavours I’ve never quite been able to perfect. However, this does come close.When I host a lunch or a dinner party, I always seem to panic that I’m somehow actually a fraud and all my food will be inedible. It’s why any table of mine has a somewhat comical amount of dishes and sides to hopefully distract from any major issues with the main. This dish is almost always on the menu.
(Serves four to six as a side)
Ingredients
- 2-3 large zucchinis
- 2-3 red capsicums
- 1-2 medium tomatoes or a handful of cherry tomatoes
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 100g of slivered almonds
- 1 tbs smoked paprika
- A dash of red wine vinegar
- 1tbs of honey
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 100g of stracciatella
- A handful of fresh basil
Method
- Slice your zucchinis into rounds and shallow fry in your choice of oil (I usually use vegetable oil), removing when golden brown. Alternatively you can roast in the oven.
- Set these aside in a bowl with some salt and olive oil
- Chop your capsicum and roast until in the oven at 180°C for 40 minutes or until they start to char (I like them smoky).
- In a blender, place the capsicum, ¾ of your almonds, tomato, raw garlic, the red wine vinegar, smoked paprika, honey and salt and pepper.
- Blend this until you have a chunky sauce, known as romesco. You can adjust the honey, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. I like to keep mine quite chunky.
- Spread the sauce on a large dish, this is your base layer.
- Next, add the fried zucchinis.
- Spoon blobs of stracciatella on top.
- Finish with the remainder of the almonds and basil, with a good glug of olive oil.
