Charred Leeks with Romesco and Anchovy Crumb

⏱ 50 min · Serves 4

Sweet, silky leeks blistered until smoky, spooned over a smoky almond-pepper romesco and finished with a salty, garlicky anchovy crumb. A proper Catalan-inspired sharing plate that eats like a starter but drinks like a main event.

Per serving: 476 kcal · 10.5g protein · 26.0g carbs · 37.0g fat

Ingredients

• 6 medium leeks, trimmed to about 20cm
• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• Sea salt and black pepper
• For the romesco:
• 2 roasted red peppers from a jar (about 200g), drained
• 60g blanched almonds, toasted
• 1 ripe tomato, halved
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 slice sourdough (about 30g), torn
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• For the anchovy crumb:
• 50g coarse sourdough breadcrumbs
• 4 anchovy fillets in oil, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Put the tomato halves and unpeeled garlic cloves on a small tray with a drizzle of oil and roast for 20 minutes, until soft and slightly blackened. Cool slightly, then squeeze the garlic from its skins and slip the skin off the tomato.
2. Meanwhile, halve the leeks lengthways if thick, or leave whole if slim. Rinse well between the layers and pat completely dry. Toss with 3 tbsp olive oil and season generously.
3. Get a griddle pan or heavy frying pan very hot. Char the leeks cut-side down (or turning often if whole) for 4–5 minutes until deeply blackened in patches, then transfer to a baking tray, cover loosely with foil and roast for 15–18 minutes until a knife slides through the centre with no resistance.
4. For the romesco, fry the torn sourdough in 1 tbsp of the extra virgin oil until golden. Blitz it with the roasted tomato, garlic, red peppers, almonds, paprika and vinegar until nearly smooth, then trickle in the remaining oil with the motor running. Season well — it should be sweet, smoky and sharp.
5. For the crumb, warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a small pan, add the anchovies and mash them into the oil until melted. Add the breadcrumbs and garlic and fry, stirring, for 3–4 minutes until crisp and deep gold. Off the heat, stir in lemon zest and parsley.
6. Spread the romesco across a wide platter. Pile the hot charred leeks on top, drizzle with a little more olive oil and shower generously with the anchovy crumb. Serve warm, with bread for the plate-scraping.