Roasted Broccoli with Romesco

Roasting broccoli is my view is one of the best ways of eating broccoli. Even diehard broccoli haters can be converted. We often roast broccoli as a side dish, and drizzle with good balsamic. That’s all it needs. But for special occasions or to ring a change, dressing it with romesco,  raises the game a notch.

Romesco is traditionally Spanish and made with red peppers, hazelnuts and flavoured with smoked paprika. Variations including adding tomato (I have done in this version) or switching the nuts used, and they all taste delicious. This is akin to pesto, get the basics right and then play around with the ingredients, depending on what you have handy to create something different and fresh.

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Roasted Broccoli with Romesco
This version uses red peppers & tomatoes. No doubt roasting your own peppers is the best way forward, but for weekday dinners this can be swapped for the ready roasted peppers you can buy in jars. Doing this makes for a quick no-cook sauce. If you decide to use jarred peppers, rinse them to rid them of the vinegary solution that they are bottled in and skip the tomato. See notes before starting.
Cuisine Spanish
Prep Time 10 min
Cook Time 30 min
Servings
Ingredients
For the broccoli
Romesco sauce
Cuisine Spanish
Prep Time 10 min
Cook Time 30 min
Servings
Ingredients
For the broccoli
Romesco sauce
Instructions
  1. For the broccoli - Preheat the oven at 220C or 200fan. Slice the broccoli into thick slices. I prefer slices than florets, as the slices lie flat while roasting and gets lots of good colour. There will be some florets that fall off, and they can be roasted at one end of the pan, as they will get done faster.
  2. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the broccoli and place in a single layer on a baking tray.
  3. Roast for about 30 minutes in total, flipping over the slices halfway through. They should get a nice golden brown at the edges. Remove from oven.
  4. Heat the grill to the highest setting. Arrange an oven rack on the shelf closest to the grill. Place peppers (cut side down), tomato (cut side up), and garlic on a baking tray (lined with foil to ease clean up). Grill for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn only the garlic over; grill 1 to 2 minutes longer until garlic is well browned but not burned. Transfer garlic to a large bowl. Continue grilling peppers and tomatoes until both are well charred, 4 to 5 minutes longer.
  5. Transfer tomato and peppers to the bowl with the garlic. Cover bowl with a tight lid or cling wrap. Let stand until vegetables are cool enough to handle but still warm, then peel peppers and tomatoes and discard skins. Don’t rinse off any attached bits of skin as that will take away the valuable grilled flavour.
  6. Use the food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse hazelnuts until coarsely ground. Add the peppers, tomato, garlic, breadcrumbs, oil, vinegar, pomegranate molasses, paprika and salt. Purée until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. Transfer into a bowl or storage container.
  7. To serve – lay out the broccoli on a serving platter and drizzle on the romesco over it.
Recipe Notes
  • The broccoli can be served hot, or roasted in advance and served at room temperature, easy if you are entertaining.
  • The romesco can be made ahead and refrigerated. Take out and allow to stand at room temperature before using.
  • If you are roasting your own peppers, throw in the tomato and garlic to roast too. If using raw garlic, use only clove as more will be overpowering.
  • I love the flavour of pomegranate molasses, but in the absence of that, substitute with honey (but use less as stated in the recipe).
  • If using jarred peppers you can skip straight to step 6.
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