It is great to have a collection of simple, yet utterly delicious sauces up your sleeve.
Smoked tomato sauce
4 tomatoes, sun-ripened
½ red onion
2 cloves garlic
2 dried red chillies (approx.)
handful fresh coriander
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lime, juice
sea salt flakes
fresh ground pepper
Tahini salted yoghurt
250g
Greek-style unsweetened yoghurt
1 Tbsp tahini paste
sea salt flakes, generous pinch or two
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Green herb sauce
½ cup fresh parsley
¼ cup fresh coriander
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
1 tsp fresh green chili, diced finely
1 garlic, clove
1 lime, juice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
Smoked tomato sauce
Heat up a heavy-based frypan or barbecue to hot, add the tomatoes, onion and garlic, allow the skin to blacken and blister. Allow time to do this right as you also want the ingredients to soften and get a wonderful smoky flavour.
Once this has done turn off the heat.
I used a mortar and pestle to make this sauce but it can be done in a blender or by hand.
Slice the onion thinly and add to the mortar, add the garlic and a pinch of salt, mash together, add the dried chillies and continue to blend the ingredients together. Remove the blackened skin from the tomatoes and discard. Squash the tomatoe into the onion mixture, add the coriander, extra virgin olive and lime juice, adjust seasoning and serve.
Tahini salted yoghurt
Mix all the ingredients together and serve.
Green herb sauce
Chop all the ingredients together until well combined and fragrant.
Place into a bowl, add the lime juice, pinch of salt and oil, stir to combine and taste. Allow to sit for 10 minutes so the flavours start to develop.
• Alison Lambert is one of the demonstrators in the Otago Farmers Market in Dunedin on Saturday mornings.
