Sauce espagnole recipe

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: over 2 hours
Serve: Makes 3
Dietary: Egg-free Nut-free

A classic French sauce made from rich brown stock, caramelised vegetables, and tomato purée. It serves as the base for three other sauces here - Bordelaise, mustard sauce, and Madeira.

By Matt Tebbutt

From Saturday Kitchen

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Ingredients

For the sauce espagnole

2 tbsp olive oil
50g/1¾oz streaky bacon, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
2 tsp plain flour, toasted in a frying pan until browned
1 tsp tomato purée
1 bay leaf
few fresh thyme sprigs
500ml/18fl oz hot beef stock
1 sirloin steak, cooked, to serve

For the Bordelaise sauce

100g/3½oz bone marrow, chopped
1 banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked
200ml/7fl oz Bordeaux red wine
250ml/9fl oz sauce espagnole (see above)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the mustard sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
1 banana shallot, peeled and chopped
125ml/4fl oz white wine
200ml/7fl oz sauce espagnole (see above)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
75–100ml/2½–3½fl oz double cream

For the Madeira sauce

115–140g/4–5oz unsalted butter
1 banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped
100ml/3½fl oz Madeira
250ml/9fl oz sauce espagnole (see above)

Method

To make the sauce espagnole, heat the oil in a large saucepan or frying pan, add the bacon and cook until golden and crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the vegetables to the pan and cook until browned well all over. Add the flour, tomato purée, bay leaf, thyme and stock.
Simmer and skim the top for around 2 hours. Pass through a sieve and reduce as necessary.
Serve with the cooked steak.
To make the Bordelaise sauce, place the bone marrow in a small saucepan and cook for 1–2 minutes to warm through. Set aside.
In the same pan, cook the shallot, garlic and thyme for 2–3 minutes over a low–medium heat. Add the wine and cook until reduced by three quarters.
Add the sauce espagnole and cook for 5 minutes. Just before serving, add the cooked bone marrow and season with salt and pepper.
To make the mustard sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan or frying pan and cook the shallot over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add the wine and cook until reduced by half.
Add the sauce espagnole, bring to the boil and then add the mustards and cream. Bring to the boil again and serve.
To make the Madeira sauce, heat 40g/1½oz butter in a large saucepan and cook the shallot for 2 minutes.
Add the Madeira and cook until reduced by half. Add the sauce espagnole and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Finish with the remaining butter, whisking in a knob at a time. Serve.