Cauliflower in Romesco Sauce

I really do believe in this sometimes...

Especially when I'm feeling lazy and yet I want to eat something fancy :) The sauce described here fits the bill perfectly as very little effort is required to make it. Check this out:

Ingredients

1/2 large tomato, diced,
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 slice of bread, sides removed
5 almonds
1 small red bell pepper, cubed and deseeded
1 jalapeno pepper
salt to taste
powdered black peppercorn to taste (about 1.5 tsp for us)
2 tbsp olive oil
water to adjust consistency

5-6 cauliflower florets which the sauce will eventually adorn

Did you see that list? Here's what I love about it:

a) No need to chop onions!
b) No need to go through your pantry for 10 different and exotic herbs
c) There is no cream or cheese involved here

Here's the procedure to make this sauce:

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan on high heat. Add the bell peppers when hot, stir to partially sear them.

2. Add everything else and bring the heat to medium-high.

3. Cool and puree in a blender.

4. Blanch the cauliflower in boiling water for 5 mins. Toss it in a pan with some olive oil, sear it and pour the sauce at medium heat.

As far as the sauce goes, just 3 steps...as easy as A...B...C! You could omit garlic if you want and you could make this into a dip by reducing the amount of water you add. We had this with some seared cauliflowers, but you could easily serve this with pasta. You could reduce the amount of water to make it into a dip. We modified a food network recipe because we were feeling lazy to all the things they asked :P

The taste was amazing! The smokiness of the bell pepper, the heat from the jalapeno and black pepper were greatly complemented by the slight richness from the almonds. The tomatoes and the bread brought the sauce together by giving it a great consistency. Also, since the only real 'spice' used in this sauce is good ol' black peppercorn, we are sending this versatile Romesco to Think Spice Think Pepper hosted by Divya Vikram and conceptualized by Sunita. But ultimately, this dish goes to Homie...Here's to you Homer!