Go Back

Sauce Espagnole  - Our Gravy

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course: Side Dish
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 25 g butter
  • 25 g bacon roughly diced.
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1/4 cup diced carrot
  • 1/4 cup diced celery
  • 25 g plain flour
  • 750 ml beef stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Two sprigs fresh thyme
  • Four fresh parsley stems
  • ½ tsp whole black peppercorns
  • 100 ml tbsp tomato puree

Equipment

  • You’ll need a heavy based saucepan and a fine strainer for this recipe

Method
 

  1. Heat your saucepan and melt the butter. When sizzling add the bacon
  2. Sauté the bacon for 5 minutes; add the diced vegetables and continue cooking until the bacon and vegetables are nicely coloured. Take off heat.
  3. Add the flour to absorb the fat. This is called a roux. Place the saucepan back on a low heat to cook out the flour for 2 minutes. Take off heat
  4. Add the stock and stir to dissolve the roux. Make sure the bottom of the saucepan is free of roux.
  5. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring the liquid to the boil.
  6. When boiling turn down to a low simmer.
  7. Simmer for one hour.
  8. Avoid seasoning at this stage
  9. Strain through a fine strainer
  10. Refrigerate, freeze or use straight away.

Notes

You may be wondering why I took the saucepan off the heat. The general rule when making roux is that you add cold stock to hot roux or vice versa. This is to eliminate the lumps that form when you add hot to hot.
As mentioned this is a base sauce and can be used in most recipes requiring a “gravy” style sauce.
Use the collected juices from the grilled meat to enrich the espagnole or a packet gravy mix