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I love the green tahini sauce with the roast cauliflower in your book Simple – it livens up even the most joyless of midweek meals. What other easy sauces should I have in my repertoire to give plain dishes a bit of zhoosh?
Joe, Liverpool
I’m so pleased you’ve asked this question, Joe, because sauces and pastes are one of the secrets to exciting home cooking. They’re little flavour bombs, sitting ready in the fridge, to drizzle over or stir into all sorts.
Tahini sauce, green or otherwise, is one of my favourites. If I don’t have herbs at home, or if I just fancy a change, I’ll often mix in some miso or soy for a deep, savoury hit. Or, if I want some chilli heat, I’ll add chilli flakes, harissa or similar chilli pastes such as doubanjiang and gochujang; just remember to add plenty of lemon or lime juice to balance things out.
My other fridge staples include zhoug, a coriander, green chilli and spice paste that I mix into eggs for an omelette or serve with grilled fish and meat. For a proper spicy kick, however, you can’t beat shatta, a Levantine condiment made with salted red or green chillies that takes three to five days to make. (If you’d prefer to avoid that wait, our new range of sauces at Waitrose includes a fermented chilli one that hits a similar spot.) It keeps for months, but should come with an addiction disclaimer.
Pestos are also incredibly useful – I especially love coriander and pistachio pesto and tarragon and hazelnut pesto – and they freeze well, too, so make them in big batches. Dukka, which keeps well in an airtight jar, is similar: this gorgeous spice and nut mix is wonderful on salads, bean mash or mixed into butter and rubbed under a chicken’s skin. I’m also pretty hooked on quick preserved lemon, which I often turn to to liven up all types of sauces and roasts; I even use it in baking, in the glaze for cookies or in icings for cakes.
Once you start cooking in this way, you’ll soon realise just how useful such sauces and pastes can be. Pilpelchuma, chraimeh and all the rest: they’re all are just ready and waiting to dial up midweek meals. I hope that one or two or three of my suggestions become part of your regular repertoire and that, as a result, you’ll never think of a midweek meal as joyless again.
