Espagnole Sauce Recipe
My recipe for Espagnole Sauce cooks low-and-slow for a flavor you'll want to come back to again and again!
Servings 4
Calories 147kcal
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- ¼ Onion finely chopped
- ½ Carrot finely chopped
- 1 stalk Celery finely chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 cups Beef stock
- 1 cup Red wine
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato paste
- 2 Bay leaves
- 3 sprigs Fresh thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Chop onion, carrot, celery, and garlic finely. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the chopped vegetables. Saute in butter until soft and lightly browned, approximately 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir well until it forms a roux (thick paste-like consistency). Continue cooking the roux until it turns a golden-brown color - don't let it get too dark!
- Slowly pour in red wine while stirring continuously. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of your pan with a wooden spoon, and let the wine simmer for a few minutes.
- Add beef stock, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme, and stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, then reduce to low. Let it simmer gently for about 1 hour, stirring now and then.
- After cooking, remove the bay leaves and thyme, then pour the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer over a mixing bowl. Press down on the vegetables to extract as much of the liquid as possible.
- Rinse the saucepan, then return the espagnole sauce to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and simmer an additional 5 minutes before serving! Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure not to overcook the roux. It should be a light golden brown color, not too browned. It should also not be too pale.
- Beef stock and veal stock both work as brown stock for this recipe. Broth may work for flavor, but it won't create as rich or thick of a sauce, so I recommend using stock.
- You can swap out the celery for fennel stocks and even add a bit of rosemary if you like - other vegetables work as a base for brown sauce, too.
- Let the sauce simmer for the full hour. I know it seems like a long time for a sauce - but you won't believe the flavor you get out of it! It creates a silky smooth, incredibly rich espagnole.
- Keep stirring when you add the red wine to avoid lumps.
- Make sure not to bring the sauce to a boil. You want it to gently simmer, not boil.
- You can use a cheesecloth instead of a fine mesh strainer, if it's what you have to work with.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 318mg | Potassium: 456mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1656IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg
