Roasted sauces can transform any meal from good to unforgettable with just a spoonful. The secret? It's all in how you make them. From picking the right ingredients to mastering the roast, these tips will elevate your sauce game. Ready to make your roasted sauces the talk of the table?
AUTHOR: Stephanie Allen
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Fall wouldn’t be complete without one dish made from roasted butternut squash. It’s excellent as a soup or as a pasta sauce. One user in the thread states you can burn, mash, and puree the squash, or it can be purchased already pureed in the frozen foods aisle. When you’re ready to cook it, just put it in a pot. If you want to eat it as a soup, add stock to it. For a sauce to put on top of pasta, add cream, cheese, or whatever you prefer. One caveat: Don’t refreeze the puree if it has cream added to it because it will curdle when reheated.
2. Balancing the Flavors
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Another participant in the online chat gave several tips for reaching the right balance between salty, sweet, and sour flavors. They advise remembering that fat is needed when preparing any sauce to help carry the flavors and help it blend. To achieve a sour taste, add vinegar or lemon. For sweetness, add honey or maple syrup. To add a salty taste to sauces besides table salt, try parmesan cheese, fish, oyster, soy sauces, or sundried tomatoes.
3. Roasted Eggplant Cheese Sauce
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A third forum member offered their take on roasted eggplant to make a cheesy, smoky pasta sauce. Thoroughly roast the eggplant. Place it in a container to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the skin and cut it up until it is mushy. Place it in a pot, add a splash of milk or cream, season it as you wish, and add cheese. Now you have an eggplant cheese sauce for your pasta dish.
4. Sweet Pepper Sauce
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For a new twist on the usual rice, chicken, and fish dishes, someone in the discussion swears by their recipe for a sweet pepper sauce. Start by chopping up several red, yellow, and orange sweet peppers. Sautee until they are soft, then let them cool. Place the peppers in a blender with salt, pepper, Sicilian lemon, balsamic vinegar, and a barbeque dry rub. Add water to make the mixture thinner, if desired.
5. Roasted Carrot Soup
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Somebody in the group describes how one of their all-time favorite dishes in the fall is roasted carrot soup. They like their soup to have some added kick, so they add some Adobo sauce. They also roast their carrots with rosemary and garlic. Once the carrots have been roasted soft, let them cool down. While they are still warm, place them in a blender with butter. This helps make the mixture even more smooth.
6. Nut Creams
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If you’re lactose intolerant and do not have an allergy to nuts, then nut creams are an excellent alternative to milk creams, as several people in the online forum detail. They claim that nut creams add a rich flavor to sauces without the harsh physical side effects, and they’re easy to prepare. Take nuts like cashews and boil them for about 20 minutes. Pistachios also work, but they don’t need cooking as long.
7. Smooth Soups and Purees
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If you’ve ever wondered how pureed soups in restaurants are always without lumps, a person in the chat gives away their secret: they strain the soup after it’s blended to ensure the final product is smooth. If a smooth lentil or split pea soup is your goal, someone else says they skip the blender and use a potato masher on the cooked beans. Then, they bring the beans to a boil for five minutes, occasionally stirring them before letting them cool.
8. Roasted Mixed Vegetables
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An online contributor extols how roasting is their go-to approach with a mix of tomatoes, an onion, some garlic, a red bell pepper, and one jalapeño pepper. They roast the veggies and blend them with cilantro and heavy cream. Not only does this make for a hearty soup and a dip for bread, but the mix pairs very well with chicken and fish.
9. Tofu
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One of the benefits of cooking with tofu is its capacity to adapt the flavors of whatever it is cooked in. Tofu is a popular choice among vegetarians, vegans, and anyone who wants to eat healthier. Tofu commonly comes in six textures: silken, soft, medium, firm, extra firm, and super firm. Silken tofu is the best form to use as a sauce thickener, while the firmer tofu forms are better for cooking whole.
10. Riced Cauliflower
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For this experienced cook, keeping riced cauliflower in their freezer is a must. They assert that it’s an effective method of adding an element of creaminess to sauces when the riced cauliflower is heated first and makes sauces smoother when it’s added frozen. Their newest favorite dish is cauliflower rice roasted with oregano, basil, garlic, parmesan, and a splash of cream and olive oil. Cool and blend the mixture and pour it over pasta. They say it tastes like Alfredo sauce but is more nutritious.
Source: Reddit.
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