How To Make Delicious Homemade Sauces
SALSA VERDE: Adam Byatt, Trinity
A good salsa verde uses lots of green herbs, dijon mustard for sharpness, shallots and green chilli, all brought down with good-quality olive oil and lemon juice for balance. You can add an anchovy or two for a savoury note and wild garlic between April and May, which is both vibrant and pungent. These ingredients can all be blended together to accompany meats, chicken and fish – and taste especially great with a BBQ.
Mix everything together in a blender. Can be kept in the fridge for a week or so.
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TOMATO SAUCE: Simone Remoli, Pasta Remoli
This is a classic Italian tomato sauce that’s so easy to make. Whip it up in bulk and freeze it, so you always have some on standby. Then, serve it simply with some spaghetti and a grating of pecorino cheese, but the beauty of this recipe is that it’s also a base for so many other sauces – such as arrabbiata, bolognese or pork ragu.
Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan on a very low heat. Add the onion, garlic and black olive and sweat for about 15 minutes until they begin to brown slightly.
Add the tin of tomatoes and the salt at this point and stir to combine everything, then heat gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Using a hand mixer or a fork, carefully break up the larger pieces of tomato and add your basil.
Take the sauce off the heat and add a tablespoon of cold extra virgin olive oil which lifts the flavours in the sauce. Serve.
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MEXICAN SALSA: Niki Webster, Rebel Recipes
There’s just something about a really good salsa. Nothing else quite delivers in the same way – it’s fresh, refreshing, vibrant and lightly spiced. It immediately brings any meal to life, be it tortillas and dips or roasted vegetables.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Slice the tomatoes into quarters and add along with the onion and garlic to a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Roast for about 25-30 minutes or until soft. Set aside and allow to cool a little. Add the tomatoes (including the juices) to the food processor, along with the rest of the ingredients, and blitz to a chunky salsa.
Top with extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs.
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BURGER SAUCE: Andy Waugh, Mac and Wild & Sixes Cricket Club
This sauce is so nostalgic – it reminds of a trip to Inverness to get a cheeky burger. But it also goes well with langoustines, steak sandwiches… I have an awesome hot dog dish that uses this sauce, too.
Mix all the ingredients together, and serve.
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MAYONNAISE: Stefano Camplone, Barge East
Everyone should make mayo with lovage. It’s a fantastic ingredient – it has an incredible taste of parsley, anise and celery combined. The colour seems luminous due the bright green that comes from the oil. It’s currently on our reopening menu with some delicious leeks and pork crackling.
Blitz the lovage and the oil in a blender until it starts to get warm – or you see the oil start to separate from the lovage puree – and then pass with a fine sieve. At the bottom will be some watery residue, try not to use that. The best way to get rid of it is to freeze the oil so it can separate from the water and it’s easy to discard. Alternatively put your oil in an upside-down squeezy bottle and cover the tip of the bottle with your finger. When you release your finger, the water should come out first – stop when you see oil coming out.
Start blending the egg yolk, mustard, lemon and vinegar. After 15 seconds, start adding the lovage oil slowly until you use up all of the oil and it combines. If it gets too thick, add a touch of water.
Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary, and your emulation is ready.
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RAITA: Peter Joseph, Kahani
Raita is a yoghurt-based dip made with raw or cooked vegetables such as cucumber, mint, onion, carrot and pineapple, but you can also use ginger and garlic paste, green chillies to enrich the flavours, and cumin and black mustard are commonly used to temper the raita. Varieties vary from region to region as per seasonal availability in south Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Serve it with biryanis and kebabs, and it goes well with spicy Indian dishes, too.
In a medium bowl with a mixing spoon, stir together the yogurt, green chilli and black salt.
Add the shredded mint, grated cucumber and cumin into the mix, and fold them nicely.
Serve right away or store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
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PESTO: Wesley Smalley, Seasonality
We like to substitute pumpkin seeds in place of pine nuts to give a fresh, nut-free pesto option, but toasted sunflower seeds are also a great choice.
Add all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until you have a coarse consistency.
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BBQ SAUCE: Tom Aikens, Muse
Sweat the onion, then add the garlic followed with the dry ingredients.
Add the rest of the ingredients and slowly bring to a simmer for approximately 2 hours until thickened, stirring now and again.
Remove the bay leaf and purée until smooth.
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HOLLANDAISE SAUCE: Gareth Stevenson, Palé Hall
I like to serve hollandaise with some beautiful fresh asparagus, salt, a touch of sugar and butter, a couple of poached eggs and some really good dry-cured smoked bacon.
Add vinegar, peppercorns and shallots to a pan and reduce to a small intense liquid. Pass through a sieve.
Add the water to the egg yolks in a round bottomed bowl, sat above the waterline of a pan of simmering water, and whisk continuously.
Cook out the egg yolks to a thick peak. Be careful not to overcook, as they will scramble.
Meanwhile heat the butter until completely melted, and skim off any scum from the surface.
Slowly whisk into the egg yolks, until fully emulsified, season with salt, a crack of pepper and the reduction. If the mix is a little thick, or starts to split, add a dash of warm water and whisk to re-emulsify.
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