Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Sauce

Too few people understand a really good sandwich.
— James Beard

I often read through quotes of the culinary greats. I enjoy the quick sound bite of insight into a particular topic or opinion. This quote would not have meant anything to me a few months ago, but as we began to change the focus of our lunch menu to high quality sandwiches, I started to realize that I have so much to learn about the art form that is a perfectly built sandwich.

As a chef, I aim to take basic food preparations and reinterpret or refine them to create something entirely unique. Creating an upscale sandwich is the most challenging, and to me the most rewarding, of these endeavors. At the end of October we will be introducing a new lunch menu, with some truly outstanding sandwiches on it.

All of the bread is freshly made out of our kitchen, and all of the ingredients are of the highest quality. My favorite sandwich on the menu is the Duck Confit Sandwich featuring heirloom tomatoes, arugula, thinly sliced red onion, bacon, and smoked cheddar cheese finished off with a roasted red pepper and tomato sauce. It is a sandwich that we had been dreaming of for months, and when we finally put one together, it did not disappoint.

I would like to share the roasted red pepper and tomato sauce with you, so that you may create an exciting new sandwich.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Yellow Onion, small diced
• 2 Tbs. of Tomato Paste
• 1 cup of Red Wine
• 2 Tbs. of Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 cups of Diced Tomatoes in juices
• 2 cups of Red Peppers, roasted
• 2 Tbs. of Cumin
• 1 Tbs. of Fennel Seeds
• 1 Tbs. of Black Pepper

Method:

1. Sweat the onion in olive oil until translucent.
2. Add the tomato paste and cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Deglaze with red wine and red wine vinegar.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for half an hour.
5. Puree in blender and salt to taste.

Enjoy and happy Fall!