Calcots in Romesco Sauce Recipe

Celebrate the arrival of warmer weather and Irish spring produce, with a recipe from Chef Corrigan 🌱

The Gooseberry Gardens are crammed with Cucurbits at this time of year, and we’re harnessing the harvest by creating a comforting pumpkin soup. Best enjoyed in your cosiest attire, preferably beside a roaring fire.

This twist on a Spanish classic, using Irish produce, is inspired by the Calçotada Festival which takes place in Valls, Tarragona every year. They celebrate the arrival of these mild, many-headed onions, with a party where they are roasted or barbequed and eaten with romesco sauce, followed by grilled meats and plenty of wine! 

Calçots have their own protected geographical status, Indicación Geográfrica Protegida, which means they must be grown within a specific area to certain criteria. What is particular about them is that in summer the tops of the onion bulbs are sliced off, and the rest planted in shallow ground. Once they start to sprout shoots, they are covered in soil – like white asparagus – to keep out the light and force the shoots which stay white. 

Obviously – and unfortunately! – we aren’t growing Calçots in our gardens, and they’re quite hard to get hold of. We are lucky enough to be growing an abundance of beautiful baby leeks, which can be prepared the same way to a similar effect.