I made this great red salsa to go with my zucchini spaghetti. However it turned out to be so great that I also used it with my aubergine base mini pizzas, bread and cheese platters. This will surely be my red sauce alternative in many dishes.
I got inspired to make this sauce after watching Siba Mtongana make her own harissa paste on her own Food Network TV show. When i started making up this sauce the intention was to make my own version of a harissa paste, but I thought that with the addition of sun dried tomatoes and olives this was turning out to be more like a Mediterranean salsa/ paste.
I am still not sure whether I should call this pesto, harissa, salsa or red sauce but in either case I can assure you it is truly delicious. I highly recommend you to make this sauce. It can be easily stored it in the fridge until you need it and goes well with pizza, pasta and bread. For a milder version omit the fresh chili pepper leaving just the roasted one. If you do not tolerate spicy food at all omit the chili peppers completely. Enjoy it as a replacement to store bought tomato sauces and let me know what you think.
- 4 cloves garlic
- 7g fresh ginger
- 10 basil leaves
- 1 red bell pepper (roasted)
- 1 small chili pepper (roasted)
- 1 fresh chili pepper, deseeded
- 10 sundried tomato halves
- 8 calamata olives (purple olives), pitted
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Start by roasting the bell pepper and chili pepper for around 15 minutes.
- Once roasted peppers have cooled, remove skin and seeds.
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined and no large pieces can be seen.
- Store in a sterilized jar and keep in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
- Store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
