From David Leite’s fabulous award-winning cookbook
THE NEW PORTUGUESE TABLE
This recipe for Portuguese red pepper paste is my take on the classic massa de pimentão, made from red bell peppers and salt. This paste adds all the other ingredients popular in Portugal: wine, paprika, garlic, hot sauce, and herbs. It’s Portugal in a jar.
It’s a bit like Asian fish sauce in that a little goes a loooooooong way. Rub a little bit of this paste on a beef roast, chicken (both above and below the skin), fish -- even peeled, halved potatoes before roasting. Or you can stir it into stews or soups. It works wonders when stirred into mayo or any other application you can imagine where you want or need a a bit of bling. Here's the recipe for my Portuguese Red Pepper Paste:
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 tablespoons sweet smoked
paprika
1/4 cup dry red wine
8 to 10 garlic cloves
2 crumbled Turkish bay leaves
3 tablespoons store-bought or homemade tomato paste or 1 tablespoon double- concentrate tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
7 sprigs cilantro
5 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (16 g)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Few dashes Piri-Piri sauce, or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
In a food processor, combine all ingredients except olive oil. Pulse until the garlic and herbs are minced, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
With the motor still running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream and continue whirring until the mixture comes together in a slick, homogeneous paste, 1 to 2 minutes.
Use the mixture immediately or spoon it into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to a month.
At Leite’s Culinaria, they believe a passion for food isn’t limited to the kitchen. A person can be as satisfied by eating a good meal as by reading about one. Therefore, their mission is to educate and to entertain cooks and readers of all levels who are interested in the diverse world of food. Spend time with their website and discover a multi-ethnic variety of recipes, how-tos, essays, musings, and interviews from writers both Pulitzer prize-winning
and previously unpublished.
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