large buch of calçots substitute with fat green onions
Instructions
Make the sauce:
Remove the seeds from the peppers and place the peppers in a small bowl with hot water to soften for about 30 minutes (ideally you would place them in regular temperature water the night before, but I usually forget).
Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half and place them on an oven tray lined with foil. Place the tray in the oven and broil the tomatoes for 6 or 7 minutes.
In a small skillet, toast the almonds and hazelnuts and set aside.
Peel the garlic cloves. Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in the same skillet and fry the peppers. Remove and set aside. Lower the heat and fry 4 cloves of garlic for about 2 minutes. Set aside. Fry the slice of bread on both sides.
Using a mortar and pestle, mash the raw garlic cloves first. Add the fried garlic cloves and mash with the pestle. Add the pulp of the ñora peppers and mash. Then add the parsley, the nuts and the bread, mashing after each addition.
Peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds and chop them finely. Mix with the other ingredients. Add the vinegar and mix.
Add the olive oil in a thin stream while stiring to mix and combine all the ingredients. Season with salt.
Cook the calçots:
Clean the calçots or the green onions and remove the hairy roots.
The calçots are typically charred on a grill over an open flame (but not on embers). In my kitchen, I used a large flat pan. I placed it on the stove over high heat and when it was hot, I placed the green onions on it, working in batches. Char on one side before turning them so they char on all sides.
Wrap the charred calçots in newspaper to let them sweat. Serve them on a terracota dish alongside the sauce.
How to eat them:
To eat, make sure you have enough paper napkings on hand, as it can get messy: holding the onion by the green end, pull down the backened outer layer with the other hand. Dip in the sauce and place in your mouth while looking at the sky.
Notes
You can use a food processor instead of a mortar and pestle —just make sure you pulse and not blend, you don't want a liquified sauce
Substitute the calçots with fat tender green onions
Substitute ñora peppers with cascabel peppers or ancho peppers. I used ground ñora peppers