Cooking Time: 1 hour
Yield: About 2 cups
Plan-Overs: Because of the high acid content, this sauce will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks
INGREDIENTS
2 large red bell peppers
1 large tomato, cored
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 large red onion, roughly chopped
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
10 small fresh red Thai chilis, stemmed, or 10 dried chile de árbol, rehydrated in 1/2 cup of water, or in a pinch, 2 fresh serrano chilis
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup olive oil
METHOD
Blacken the red peppers and tomato over a gas burner or barbecue.
Transfer to a bag for 5 minutes, then peel off and discard the skins along with the seeds and stems.
Reserve.
To a food processor, add the bell pepper, tomato, garlic, onion, lemon juice, vinegar, chilis, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper.
Purée until smooth.
Transfer the sauce to a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the bay leaves.
Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
to incorporate the bits that sink to the bottom. Sauce should reduce by about 30% to 50%.
Let the sauce cool, remove the bay leaves, and then return the sauce to the food processor.
Add the lemon zest. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil until it is all incorporated.
