Top Times recipes of 2008: Romesco with grilled bread, spring onions and shrimp

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Is romescobecoming the new pesto?

Just as our obsession with Italian cooking turned that Ligurian sauce of basil, nuts and olive oil into a near-staple, the increasing interest in Spanish cooking is doing the same for romesco, essentially peppers, nuts and tomatoes ground together until they’re nearly smooth.

If so, it couldn’t happen to a nicer sauce. ‘Earthy, toothsome, definitely habit-forming, romesco is rough magic in a bowl,’ wrote staff writer Amy Scattergood when she developed this recipe for romesco with grilled bread, spring onions and shrimp. In Spain, it’s traditionally served only in the spring, but if you ask us, this is good enough to eat any time. It’s also good enough to land on our list of the top L.A. Times recipes of 2008. Here’s where the countdown stands.

UPDATE: Some of you wrote to say we made it too difficult to find an accompanying recipe for ‘basic’ romesco, which is the key component in this top dish. Our apologies. Here it is.

Photo credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times