Tag: sauce

Pesto

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Like hummous, this pesto is immensely straightforward to make from scratch and 1000% more delicious than buying it from a shop. Eat it on pasta, spread on toast, stuff chicken breasts with it, add to a roast tomato quiche, dollop onto a jacket potato, or make it part of a flipping amazing roast veggie sandwich. I promise you, if you make this once, you’ll definitely make it again.

I recommend a mini blender for this, it makes it a 2 min job. Otherwise, you can use a pestle and mortar.

  • 50g (a large handful) fresh basil – I don’t bother removing the stems, it’s all getting ground up anyway
  • 40g pine nuts, toasted
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped (or 1 tbsp garlic oil)
  • Large pinch salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil – more than you think, probably 100ml
  • 40g parmesan cheese, finely grated
  1. Put the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic and salt into the mini blender and whizz up so everything is combined
  2. Add half the olive oil and whizz again. It should start to form a course paste now
  3. Loosen the mixture with more oil and continue to whizz up until it’s a nice spoonable consistency
  4. Tip into a bowl, add the parmesan and stir together thoroughly. Check the seasoning and then you’re good to go
  5. Eat immediately or keep in the fridge under a thin layer of oil

Barbecue sauce

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

My dad’s fabulous bbq sauce, tangy, deep and brilliantly delicious. Use it to marinade and also to accompany anything barbecued, or just sneakily eat it straight from the pan with a spoon before you get caught.

  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1 stick celery, roughly chopped
  • 3 tbsp veg oil
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 250ml water
  • 2 tbsp vinegar
  • 4 tbsp tomato and chilli relish
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar
  • 200g ketchup
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 60ml lemon juice
  • 2 dashes tabasco or 1 tsp sriracha
  1. Mince the onion, pepper, celery and garlic together in a blender
  2. Heat oil in a saucepan and add the veg, cook over a low heat until completely soft and golden
  3. Add all the rest of the ingredients and cook over low heat for 30 mins until thick, deeply russet-red and intensely flavoured

Katsu curry sauce

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

More Wagamama or Yo Sushi than authentic Japanese, but savoury and delicious nonetheless. For a quick dinner, use pre-made breaded chicken escalopes or goujons. Serve over rice, garnished with sesame seeds and sushi ginger, with a zingy salad on the side. Or just dunk chips in it. Makes enough for 4

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 5 whole garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
  • 2 carrots, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tbsp medium curry powder
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  1. Heat the oil in a small pan
  2. Add the onion and whole garlic cloves and saute for 2 mins
  3. Add the carrots and sweat slowly for 10 mins with the lid on over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to caramelise
  4. Stir in the flour and curry powder and cook for a minute
  5. Slowly pour in the stock until combined (gradually to avoid getting lumps)
  6. Add the honey, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins, so the sauce thickens but is still pouring consistency
  7. Add the garam masala, then either strain or whizz up the lumps using a hand blender to create a smooth sauce

Make veggie katsu by par-cooking cauliflower florets, thick slices of sweet potato and baby corn. Dredge them in flour, then dunk into an egg whisked with a tsp of sesame oil, then dried breadcrumbs. Bake at 200C fan for 20 mins or fry until golden.

Chocolate sauce

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A favourite with all children ever. And quite a lot of grown-ups. The perfect topping for an ice cream sundae, banana pancakes or – the ultimate retro pudding – a banana split.

  • 150g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces 
  • 50ml single cream 
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup  
  1. Put all the ingredients into a small, heavy-based saucepan and heat it gently – if this goes over it’s impossible to rescue, so keep stirring and whip it off the heat as soon as everything is melted into a beautiful, glossy, pourable sauce.
  2. Pour it over everything straight away

Satay sauce

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Peanutty, aromatic, warm and delicious. Usually a closely guarded family secret, so my dad is going to be unimpressed I’m posting it here – but I made a judgment call that the world needs it. The perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken but, trust me, you’ll want to pour it straight from the jug into your mouth. (Note: this is frowned upon in a public setting)

  • 1 small onion, grated
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 stalk lemongrass, grated
  • 1 tin coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
  • Pinch of chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • Squeeze of lime
  1. Cook the onion in veg oil over a low heat until completely soft but not brown
  2. Add the lemongrass and stir in for a minute
  3. Then add all the rest of the ingredients
  4. Stir together thoroughly until completely combined and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins (adding a little bit of water if it gets too thick)

Teriyaki sauce

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Glossy, savoury, sweet. Makes everything it touches better

  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
  • 4 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 3cm ginger, sliced thickly
  • 2 cloves garlic, smacked with the back of a knife to squash them without disintegrating
  • 1 level tsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tsp water
  1. Put all the ingredients except the cornflour in a small pan and heat until bubbling
  2. Cook for 2 mins then fish out the ginger and garlic
  3. Add the cornflour and whisk in
  4. Turn the heat right down and cook until glossy and thickened

To make teriyaki chicken, marinade small pieces of skinless, boneless chicken thighs in all the ingredients except the cornflour for 20 mins. Remove the chicken from marinade (don’t throw it away though!) and fry over medium/high heat in 1 tbsp of oil. When cooked, turn the heat right down, pour the marinade/sauce into the pan (removing the garlic and ginger en route), add the cornflour/water mix and cook for a further 5 mins until bubbling and glossy. Serve over rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and some delicious stir-fried broccoli or green beans on the side.