Carrot Romesco Sauce

This carrot romesco sauce came straight from Bon Appetit, and we used it as a sauce for a luscious roasted pork loin, as the editors suggested. We seem to have gotten all kinds of photos during the romesco-making part of the evening, and none of the pork. Oh well.

In fact, you don't even need to use this as a sweet-salty and unusual sauce for pork. We made scads of this (that's right, scads) and used it for a veggie dip and bruschetta topping, too.

If you're new to romesco sauce, Bon Appetit describes it as being to Spanish cooking what pesto is to Italian cooking. It finishes as a thick paste, and if we hadn't been busy slathering on to everything we ate that week, we would have planned ahead and tossed it with some pasta. Analogies give one all kinds of ideas, don't they?

Ingredients

¼ cup pine nuts or chopped pecans
1½ pounds carrots, peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
Salt and black pepper to taste
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
1 tsp marjoram, minced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°.

Toast nuts in a small skilled for a few minutes, until slightly browned and fragrant. Let cool.

Spread half the oil on a baking sheet, then arrange the carrots on the sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and slightly browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool.

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender, along with 1 tbsp of water. Process until it forms a thick paste, scraping down the sides occasionally and adding more water if necessary.

While spreading this on thick slices of juicy pork loin is optional, I recommend it highly. Or spread it on toast rounds and place under the broiler until bubbly. Or toss with a green salad and more wine vinegar. Or...?

Makes about 2 cups of sauce.