This sauce is destined to be made on repeat
A recipe for foglie d’ulivo with Romesco style sauce and homemade stracciatella
no.11
Foglie d’ulivo with Romesco Style Sauce and Stracciatella
Happy Sunday! Let’s get straight into it - today we’re making olive leaves with a Romesco style sauce that will make you want to keep going back for seconds.
The sauce came about a couple of months ago when I was after a creamy and flavourful sauce during a short lunch break while working from home - I threw everything in my trusty blender and ta da, sauce dreams achieved in a few min.
This is an upgrade of that original sauce, made even better with easy peasy homemade stracciatella. Interest piqued? Read on.
Romesco originated in the province of Tarronga in the Spanish region of Catalonia, and can be found in many variations on menus all over the world. The flavour - slaps. Traditionally made from a combination of charred tomatoes and red peppers, thickened with almonds and bread, with added extras like garlic and red pepper powder or flakes. The resulting taste is sweet, with smokey undertones and a hint of spice. Deeeelish.
Taking a lot of inspiration from the above, this sauce is a play on Romesco, with roasted red peppers, almonds, mascarpone (replacing bread as a thickening agent, in this case), a base of onion, garlic, hot chilli flakes and anchovies, for good measure (you can omit if it’s not your thing). A brief stint in the pan, then blended together until creamy and vibrant. I hope this pays appropriate homage.
Homemade stracciatella is a recent obsession of mine, mostly because it’s so easy to make. If you’re limited to a relatively average ball of mozza, this is a fantastic way to elevate it - simply by mixing in thickened/heavy cream and a pinch of salt. Something happens to the mozzarella when combined with cream and it is magic.
Shaping Foglie d’ulivo
Deceptively tricky! This shape requires a couple of steps to achieving olive leaf-like appeal. Once rested, the dough is portioned and rolled into a thin rope. Sections are cut and then rolled individually to create pointed ends, before a knife or bench scraper is used to gently drag and open the piece of dough, while holding the other side in place. Here’s a gif to help visualise that.
My favourite thing about this shape is how the edges curl in on themselves as they dry - just like a leaf.
Suggested Wine Pairing
So I never usually recommend brands because I don’t like to choose favourites but I feel compelled to share this with you today. A perfect pairing for this Romesco style sauce, Garnacha (basically the Spanish Grenache), is all you’re going to want to try.
I recently visited Witches Falls Winery up in Mount Tamborine (QLD), and tried their wild ferment Garnacha and honestly, what a treat. Perhaps more of a special occasion bottle than your regular weeknight drop, but well worth it IMHO.
Sunday Soundtrack
A weekly playlist of 10 tracks I’ve been listening to on repeat. Hit play and get kneading.