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How To Make Delicious Homemade Sauces

If you’re looking to take your cooking up a notch, making a simple sauce from scratch could make all the difference. From a BBQ sauce and classic Italian passata to popular dips such as pesto and raita, here nine top chefs share their favourite recipes – alongside a few shop-bought favourites.
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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.

Serves
6
Total Time
5 Minutes
Ingredients
1 bunch of flat parsley
½ bunch of coriander
1 bunch of wild garlic
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
1 large shallot, roughly diced
Juice and zest of one lemon
1 green chilli, seeds removed
200ml of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Anchovies (optional)
Method
Step 1
Mix everything together in a blender. Can be kept in the fridge for a week or so.

Visit TrinityRestaurant.co.uk

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.

Serves
Serves 6
Total Time
20 Minutes
Ingredients
400g tin of quality chopped tomatoes (I use Sarno from Campania but you can use Cirio, Mutti or Napolina)
¼ white onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
½ black olive, finely chopped
10 fresh basil leaves, torn and then finely chopped.
1 tsp of sea salt
Method
Step 1
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.
Step 2
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.
Step 3
Using a hand mixer or a fork, carefully break up the larger pieces of tomato and add your basil.
Step 4
Take the sauce off the heat and add a tablespoon of cold extra virgin olive oil which lifts the flavours in the sauce. Serve.

Visit PastaRemoli.co.uk

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.

Serves
3
Total Time
1 Hour
Ingredients
6 ripe tomatoes
1 white onion
3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Twist of black pepper
½ tsp of chipotle chilli
Handful of coriander
½ tsp of cumin seeds
½ tsp of oregano
½ tsp of black pepper
½ tsp of sea salt
To garnish:
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh coriander
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Step 2
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.
Step 3
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.
Step 4
Top with extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs.

Visit RebelRecipes.com

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.

Serves
8
Total Time
15 Minutes
Ingredients
20g of onion, blanched
200g of Hellman’s mayonnaise
60g of Heinz tomato ketchup
5g of sugar
2 tbsp of gherkin, finely diced
50g of gherkin brine
30g mustard
2g of garlic powder
3g of onion powder
2.5g of smoked paprika
Method
Step 1
Mix all the ingredients together, and serve.

Visit MacAndWild.com

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.

Serves
Serves 8
Total Time
10 Minutes
Ingredients
150g of lovage
300ml of vegetable oil
3 egg yolks
30g of Dijon mustard
½ lemon, juiced
5ml of cider vinegar
Method
Step 1
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.
Step 2
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.
Step 3
Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary, and your emulation is ready.

Visit BargeEast.com

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.

Serves
4
Total Time
10 Minutes
Ingredients
1 cup of full fat yogurt
1 green chilli, minced or chopped
8 leaves of mint, washed and shredded
½ tsp of Himalayan black salt
½ cup of cucumber, roughly grated
¼ tsp of cumin seeds, toasted
Method
Step 1
In a medium bowl with a mixing spoon, stir together the yogurt, green chilli and black salt.
Step 2
Add the shredded mint, grated cucumber and cumin into the mix, and fold them nicely.
Step 3
Serve right away or store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Visit KahaniLondon.com

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. 

Serves
2
Total Time
5 Minutes
Ingredients
50g of pumpkins seeds, toasted
80g of basil
80g of wild garlic leaves
50g of parmesan
150g of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method
Step 1
Add all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until you have a coarse consistency.

Visit Seasonality.co.uk

BBQ SAUCE: Tom Aikens, Muse

Serves
8
Total Time
2 Hours 30 Minutes
Ingredients
4 onions, cut into small pieces
10 garlic cloves, cut in half
5 tomatoes, cut into quarters
2 bay leaves
200g of light brown sugar
12 drops of Tabasco sauce
200g of molasses
200g of HP Sauce
300ml of Worcestershire sauce
300ml of cider vinegar
50g of French mustard
300g of Heinz tomato ketchup
10g of salt
4 good-sized pinches of black pepper
2 tsp of chilli powder
3 tbsp of tamarind paste
50ml of lemon juice
Method
Step 1
Sweat the onion, then add the garlic followed with the dry ingredients.
Step 2
Add the rest of the ingredients and slowly bring to a simmer for approximately 2 hours until thickened, stirring now and again.
Step 3
Remove the bay leaf and purée until smooth.

Visit MuseByTomAikens.com

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.

Serves
6
Total Time
10 Minutes
Ingredients
250g of salted butter
5 egg yolks
25g of water
30g of white wine vinegar
5g of shallots, chopped
1g of white peppercorns, lightly crushed
Method
Step 1
Add vinegar, peppercorns and shallots to a pan and reduce to a small intense liquid. Pass through a sieve.
Step 2
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.
Step 3
Cook out the egg yolks to a thick peak. Be careful not to overcook, as they will scramble.
Step 4
Meanwhile heat the butter until completely melted, and skim off any scum from the surface.
Step 5
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.

Visit PaleHall.co.uk

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