Homemade brown sauce
Item 1 of 1
While shop-bought sauces are often loaded with sugar, Lisa Allen's homemade brown sauce recipe proves the old adage 'fresh is best'. Don't be put off by the amount of ingredients – they simply need mixing together and simmering to achieve a beautiful sauce with perfectly balanced layers of flavour. Serve alongside sausages, eggs and bacon for a fabulous breakfast treat.
First published in 2016
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Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Brown sauce
- 500g of tomatoes
- 112g of cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
- 700ml of water
- 225g of onion, finely chopped
- 15g of ginger
- 100ml of red wine vinegar
- 50g of dried apricots
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 1/2 chilli
- 2 pinches of white pepper
- 1 pinch of salt
- 5 juniper berries
- 12 fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 4 tsp black treacle
- oil
SAVE RECIPE
Equipment
- Blender
Method
1
Begin by preparing the tomatoes. Using the tip of a sharp knife, score a cross in the base of each tomato. Blanch carefully in boiling water, immediately plunging into ice water to cool (this process should loosen the skins of the tomatoes). Peel and deseed the tomatoes, then chop the flesh into chunks and set to one side
- 500g of tomatoes
2
Place a large pan over a medium heat and add a small dash of oil. Sweat the onions without allowing them to colour, then add the spices and seasonings, chopped tomatoes, fruit, water, treacle and Worcestershire sauce to the pan
- oil
- 225g of onion, finely chopped
- 15g of ginger
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 1/2 chilli
- 2 pinches of white pepper
- 1 pinch of salt
- 5 juniper berries
- 12 fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 112g of cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
- 50g of dried apricots
- 700ml of water
- 4 tsp black treacle
- 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3
Stir well to combine, then leave to reduce gently over a light simmer. Add the vinegar, continuing to reduce until the mixture thickens to form a sauce-like consistency
- 100ml of red wine vinegar
4
Fish out and discard the cloves, star anise and bay leaf, then pour the sauce into a blender and blitz until smooth, adjusting the seasoning to taste. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean jar and set aside to cool. Serve immediately once cool, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week
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