Salmorreta: an essential recipe 

Good rice, paella or Alicante noodle dishes generally have something in common: the salmorreta. It’s not just a case of good ingredients, patience, care and attention to cooking times that guarantee such delicious food.  It is also due to this sauce which originates from Alicante and which provides an incomparable flavour to many dishes. 

But what is the salmorreta alicantina? It is a sauce consisting of ñoras (a round, dried, red-coloured pepper which is common along the Mediterranean, but which can also be easily found in the spice section of the supermarket), garlic, tomato, parsley and olive oil. For many cooks, the salmorreta has become the essential base for rice dishes (whether they contain fish, meat or vegetables, or if they are of the creamy type), and if you start making it at home, you are surely going to want to add it to your dishes from now on. 

If you want to make salmorreta, you will find that there is no mystery to it. And you only need to add one spoonful per person to your rice or noodle dish: so take advantage when you make it and make extra to freeze, as that way, you will always have it to hand when you need it.  

Ingredients for the salmorreta

To make a good salmorreta, the ingredients you will need are as follows:

• 5 ñoras
• 5 garlic cloves
• 400 g tomatoes (chopped)
• 40 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch of parsley

How to achieve the perfect salmorreta

Follow these steps to prepare your salmorreta for paella or noodles. First, wash the ñoras and dry them thoroughly on absorbent paper. Remove the stem and inner seeds and cut them into pieces. Then peel the garlic and slice it finely. 

Put some oil in a frying pan and heat it on a medium heat. When this is hot, add the sliced garlic and, after this, the 5 chopped ñoras. Caramelise on a low heat for 5 minutes. When the garlic has turned a golden colour and the ñoras are soft, add the parsley and mix everything together.  

All that is left is to add is the chopped tomato, which you can do in this step. Then, let it cook on a low-medium heat for some 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it all cooks thoroughly. Your sauce will be ready after this time. Lastly, to ensure the sauce is well mixed, put it through the blender and you will have the perfect salmorreta.

If you want to make your salmorreta in a Thermomix, start by heating the oil and programming 15 minutes at spoon speed at a temperature of 120 degrees. When the oil is hot, add the sliced garlic, a little more oil and the ñoras. Let it cook for 3 minutes. Then add the tomato and programme 35 minutes at 100 degrees, speed 1. All that’s left to do is to chop it well, for which you put the salmorreta on a progressive speed of 6-7-8 minutes for 30 seconds and, voilà! The salmorreta is ready, and delicious of course.