Piri piri sauce with paprika and saffron

Piri piri is a hot sauce that can be used to marinate, as a dipping sauce, or a garnish when meats and vegetables have been cooked.  Everyone has their own version and recipe of this sauce and mine has been passed along by a friend who likes a little bit of smokiness to it.

Recipe: Piri Piri sauce

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)

-  1-3 tablespoons of red bird’s eye chilli, washed and dried. ( For medium spiced, I used 2 tablespoons and was told it was pretty spicy.)

-  2-4 cloves of garlic, bruised. (I like the garlic so I used 4 cloves)

-  1 teaspoon of kosher sea salt (healthier for you than table salt)

-  1 tablespoon of paprika

-  1/4 teaspoon of saffron

-  2 tablespoons of white vinegar

-  2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1)  Roast the chillis and garlic in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes and let cool.

2)  Add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

3)  Place in a container and store for immediate or future use.

I used the sauce to marinate some pork chops, which were added to a fresh salads.  For other ideas on how to create a meal with piri piri sauce, check out these recipes:

Shrimp Piri from Oprah’s Website

Mussels with Piri Piri from Emeril

Grilled Piri Piri Chicken from Canadian Living

Another piri piri recipe you can try was submitted by Andre a few weeks ago: http://feedthesink.com/2010/06/07/homemade-piri-piri-sauce/