Mexican Red Almond Dipping Sauce (Vegan)

From a Mexican cookbook. A nice sweet and spicy dipping sauce, an interesting alternative to salsa and tomatillo sauce. Perfect for nacho chips and fritters! I liked this sauce with cheese arepas.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 1 3/4 cups

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup  toasted  slivered almonds
• 1  large onion, finely chopped
• 1  garlic clove, crushed (I use1/2 tsp liquid-y chopped garlic)
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2  teaspoons paprika
• 1  teaspoon  ground red chile (I used red pepper flakes)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  ground red pepper (I used cayenne)

Directions

1. Put the almonds in a food processor and pulverize until finely ground.
2. Cook onion and garlic in oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onion is tender (about 10-15 minutes).
3. Stir in all the other ingredients except the ground almonds. (I found it easier to turn the heat off first, then add the tomato sauce followed by everything else, then put the heat back on.).
4. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer 1 minute stirring constantly;.
5. stir in almonds.
6. Serve hot with some corn chips and/or arepas, and enjoy!. Makes about 1 3/4 cups of sauce.