Shrimp & Bread Skewers with Romesco Sauce

Since I can't cook at the moment, and my DH is not much of a cook, I haven't been able to cook the recipes in order to have photos. I'm trying to be very careful that I don't abuse somebody's copyrighted photo. The above is a photo of Romesco Sauce. Just try to picture a skewer of shrimp and croutons with this yummy sauce lightly spread over it. It makes for a great combination.

Romesco Sauce is not your normal run-of-the-mill sauce. It contains some different ingredients. It keeps for weeks and weeks. I always seem to have leftovers of the sauce, so use it on grilled vegetables, even some plain grilled chicken too.

This is from one of Nicole Aloni's cookbooks, and was demonstrated at a cooking class she taught several years ago. I loved the combination of textures in this dish. I'd never had bread croutons threaded onto a grilled skewer of anything until this dish was served to me. But I liked it. You don't want to use bread that will become hard and inedible, so think about that as you're choosing the bread. In other words, an already firm chunk of sourdough with a very firm crust isn't going to get any less chewy if you grill it. So, you need to use a softer crumb - like an Italian loaf or a soft type of baguette. I rarely buy grocery store French bread for just this reason - they're more like white nothingness than a "real" baguette, but for the grilled crouton, it may just be perfect. And, you wouldn't want to serve bread or another carb with this, either.

The Romesco sauce has a Catalan (Spain) origin. I thought it was Italian, but no. I finally found a bit of info about it:

This Catalan tomato sauce is traditionally served with fish and shellfish but it is also ideal to serve as a dipping sauce. Authentic recipes are made with dried romesco chiles, which have a sweet and hot flavour. Unfortunately they are difficult to obtain outside the region.

What's unique about Romesco is its use of almonds as a thickener, and flavor enhancer. It adds a lot, although you'll have a hard time picking out the almond flavor once it's incorporated into the intense tomato-base. It's not difficult to make and it keeps for awhile. I love it on hearty vegetables as leftovers too.

Grilled Shrimp and Bread Skewers with Romesco Sauce
Recipe By :Nicole Aloni, author and caterer
Servings: 8
2 1/2 pounds shrimp -- peeled, deveined, raw
1 whole French bread -- baguette (see instructions)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
4 large garlic cloves
4 whole red bell peppers
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil lemon juice to garnish
1. PEPPERS: You can use bottled bell peppers (four 7-oz.jars), or roast your own: Core and seed the peppers, drizzle with olive oil and bake in a 325° oven for about an hour. Remove the skins and save all the juice and oil as part of the peppers.
2. BREAD: Cut 3 thin slices of bread and set aside. Cut remaining bread into 1 1/2 inch cubes and set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add almonds and move briskly around pan to toast. Remove and add 2 T. olive oil, then add the sliced bread and toast until golden brown, then remove and set aside.
4. Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse to grind. Add the 3 bread slices, garlic, bell peppers, vinegar and cayenne pepper; puree until smooth. With the machine running add the larger quantity of oil and process until incorporated and slightly thickened. Add salt to taste. Sauce can be prepared ahead (2-3 days ahead is best) and refrigerated.
5. SHRIMP: Preheat grill or grill pan to medium high. Onto water-soaked bamboo skewers alternate shrimp and bread cubes. Lay these on a large sheet pan and drizzle each layer with olive oil and salt and pepper. Grill for 2-3 minutes per side, until shrimp are bright pink and firm.
6. SERVING: Pool the Romesco sauce on each plate and set 2 or 3 skewers across the sauce. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to each skewer.
Serving Ideas : You can make a main dish of this by grilling some zucchini, asparagus and red onion before you grill the shrimp. Leftover sauce can be used on top of a white grilled fish or green beans. The sauce will keep for several weeks.
NOTES : You want to eat some of the sauce with every bite, so you can drizzle more sauce on top of each skewer. Using a regular bamboo skewer, you'll want to serve each person two skewers. And, except for grilling the skewers, everything can be done up to 2 days ahead.
Per Serving: 528 Calories; 26g Fat (44.3% calories from fat); 36g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 216mg Cholesterol; 558mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 4 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on the title at top.