This sauce made with caramelised onions may not sound particularly glamorous of ‘haute cuisine’, in fact it is traditional rustic cooking. In Spanish it is known as ‘salsa de cebolla‘ or ‘encebollado‘, and it is a typical sauce that is used in Gibraltar for cooking meats. This is a vegetarian version (obviously, in fact this is vegan) that is suitable for things like veggie meatballs, or seitan. The key is to allow the onions to caramelise, this develops the sweetness and the other flavours enhance the savouriness. This sauce is very easy to make and all you need is a good hand blender to make it smooth and release all the flavours.
Ingredients
- 2 large onions
- 6-8 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp yeast extract (Marmite)
- pinch of salt
- pinch of sugar
- 200 ml white wine
- 150 ml water
- 2 large onions
- 6-8 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp yeast extract (Marmite)
- pinch of salt
- pinch of sugar
- ¾ cup of white wine
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Finely dice the onions and fry on a non stick pan and sweat with the bay leaf until the become translucent.
- Chop the garlic (does not have to be finely chopped) and add to the onions. Keep cooking until the onions are light brown in colour and are caramelised.
- Add this to a jug (remove the bay leaf) together with the yeast extract, saly, sugar, wine and water and blend until smooth.
- Return to the pan, together with the bay leaf. If you are cooking meatballs, quorn or seitan then this is the time to add the contents to the pan.
- Cook on a gentle simmer for another 10 minutes or so, so that the wine mellows and blends and all the flavours are combined.