Chili Confit Sauce

Not a vodka sauce, not a romanesco sauce, not a salsa macha.

• 1 onion
• 90 g (~6 tbsp) butter
• 3 red bell peppers
• 4 dried fragrant chilis (eg guajillo)
• 30 g (~1/4 cup) peeled almonds
• 3-5 cloves of garlic
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) vinegar
• 80 g (5 tbsp) tomato paste

• Blend onion with just enough water for it to come together.
• Add the blended onion and butter to a saucepan, cook on medium/medium-low, covered for one hour.
• Toast the chilis in a dry pan; it's easier if you break them up first.
• Add the chilis to the onions.
• Roast the red peppers; maybe at 425 F however long it takes.
• Remove the skins from the peppers when they finish; this is easier if you cover them while they're cooling so the steam can do the hard work.
• Toast the almonds and garlic in a dry pan; leave the garlic in the skins and pull them out after they're blackened.
• Blend onion confit, red peppers, almonds, garlic, vinegar, and tomato paste with salt and hot chili powder.
• To serve: add a few big spoons to 100 g pasta and a few spoons of pasta water.

The final sauce should be saltier, more acidic, and hotter than you'd really want because the pasta (or whatever you put it on) will level it out, so add more salt, vinegar, and chili or you will be disappointed. This makes a ton of sauce, but it freezes well. Consider freezing it into individual portions.