Roasted Scallions with Romesco Sauce

This idea was originally from the food section of the NYTimes magazine earlier this year. The gist of the article was that in rural Spain, they have these plants in the onion family that are similar to scallions but fatter and they slowly grill them for special celebrations. The Romesco I made was from a combination of a number of recipes, molded to fit the ingredients I had at hand.

I had bought the fattest scallions I could find since the strange Spanish onion thing isn't available here. I trimmed the roots down as much as possible but I didn't cut the bottom off since they probably would have fallen apart later. The scallions were coated in olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted in the oven at about 325° until they were soft and a bit brown.

Romesco Sauce:
2 dried ancho chiles, rehydrated in hot water, seeded and skinned
3 or 4 chipotle chiles, canned in adobo
4-6 garlic cloves
1 or 2 slices of day old bread cut into small cubes
2 tbs almond meal or equivalent of whole or slivered almonds
1-2 tbs red wine vinegar
olive oil

Sauté the bread and garlic in about 1 tbs of olive oil until browned then throw everything in the food processor and blend until smooth. Add a generous amount of olive oil (3+ tbs) while blending, then season with salt and pepper.

The combination of the Romesco sauce and the slow roasted scallions is great but it could also go well with meat or shellfish. I'll bet it would be delicious on soft shelled crabs.