The things that inspire are many.

At least once a month I simply have to get to the ocean, always to Eaglehawk Neck. I just love it.

On our day trip there a couple of weeks ago, we didn’t take a picnic lunch as is our custom, so stopped in at a little cafe/restaurant at Dunalley.

The mushroom and leek tart was delicious but belatedly I spotted a sourdough Romesco sandwich. It looked amazing.

Since then I’ve had a hankering for Romesco.

Lost my recipe or so I thought, till I found it in the notes from the Spanish cooking class we used to have here.

So this afternoon I made a large batch of Romesco, much of it to freeze but mostly for a late afternoon platter.

It was an easy thing to bake a focaccia to accompany it, along with some homemade labna and my quince balsamic reduction with olive oil.

No need for dinner really after that, the Romesco didn’t disappoint.

So thanks go to that little restaurant for the inspiration for the Romesco.

And by the way, neither did the Neck disappoint. A walk on the beach, a trip to the Blowhole and surrounds, just wonderful.

Can’t wait for our next trip down there.

Oh yes, and by the way, I’ve had a lot of requests for the quince balsamic reduction since I wrote this post, so here it is:

This recipe came about when I ended up with an excess of both balsamic vinegar and quince jelly – I’d bought 5 litre container of the vinegar and made too much quince jelly (seemed like a good idea at the time).

Never mind, this turned out to be quite delicious.

Quince Balsamic Reduction

500ml balsamic vinegar

375g quince jelly

Method

Heat, stirring with a whisk until the jelly has melted. Boil over medium heat until volume is reduced to 500ml.

Pour into sterilised jars and seal immediately.