Sauce

I LOOOOOVE meatballs—who doesn’t? This is my interpretation of the classic Italian-American dish. What makes these meatballs special are two things: First, I cook the onions before putting them in the meatball mix. Second, I add water—this helps ensure a moist ball every time!

When I’m in the mood for tomato sauce, Amatriciana is my go-to. It’s all about onions, spicy tomatoes, and pork products. Guanciale—cured pork jowl—is the key here. It has a sweeter, more interesting flavor than bacon. In a pinch, pancetta can be substituted, and in a double pinch bacon will suffice (though it does add a smokier flavor, so be warned). What else can I say? This sauce makes me want to dive into the bowl head first with my mouth wide open!

When I was working in Tuscany during porcini season I always wanted to go foraging for mushrooms, but the Italians are so secretive about where they find their prized porcini that I could never convince anyone to take me with them. So, while I never got to go hunting for fresh porcini, I did learn how to use dried ones to make this gorgeous sauce. If you’ve never used them before, dried porcini are a fantastic way to add a huge bump of mushroomy goodness to almost anything. And, because you have to soak them first, you get the added benefit of the fastest, most flavorful vegetarian stock ever; one that you can then add to your sauce to give it an even richer, earthier boost of flavor—just like I do here.

Years ago, I was working at a tiny restaurant in Tuscany. This is where I first learned to make ragù—an unbelievably delicious sauce that I would let cook for hours and hours. But in the beginning, no matter how long I let it simmer, the owner would come over, taste it, and tell me the vegetables were raw! In my head I remember thinking, are you freaking kidding me? But he was right. I was skimping on an essential step—I was rushing the browning of the soffritto: the early stage in a ragù’s life cycle when the flavor begins to build and deepen. Now, of course, I’m super-sensitive to this step, and when I taste a ragù in a restaurant, I can tell instantly if the chef has taken a shortcut at the browning stage. So be patient—if you’re taking the time and effort to make this spectacular sauce, don’t rush it; brown it and enjoy!

For those of us who prefer to sweeten with agave, this glaze, which can also moonlight as a dipping sauce, is a godsend. You’ll need to store it at room temperature to prevent it from getting too thick.

This recipe is extremely easy and can be ready in a jiff. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can make this in the oven or the microwave. Be warned: Your bowl or saucepan must be bone dry before you put the chips in or the sauce will break—a not-exactly technical term for separating into a lumpy mess. If, after you’re finished dipping your donut, you have a little extra, simply cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. As a rule of thumb, this recipe will keep for 5 days. The sauce is shown here topping a Plain Cake Donut (page 120) with stripes of Vanilla Icing (page 127).

Making your own tomato-based sauce to dip your cheese straws into or to spread on your pizza is super-easy. At the bakery, we usually toss something together with whatever spare veggies and tidbits we have lying around. The foundation, however, goes a little something like this.

This makes a wonderful sweet-tart condiment with caramelized, almost molasses, undertones. It lasts for at least two weeks in the fridge and is amazing drizzled over creamy, mild ingredients such as avocado slices or soft goat cheese spread on crackers. It’s especially good over filet mignon (page 108) and Brazilian Leeks (page 142), which in fact go beautifully together.

This fabulous citrus sauce comes together in minutes. It is an elegant addition that brightens any fish dish, or try it on chicken cutlets.

I tasted this sauce for the first time in Normandy, France. It was served over Dover sole (page 70) and after I’d eaten it I made my way directly to the tiny kitchen. There the chef rattled off the recipe in rapid French while I frantically scribbled whatever I could understand and asked him questions in my pigeon French. I did, at least, grasp that success depends on using very cold Normandy or European butter (page 25)—believe me, I’ve tried it with ordinary supermarket butter and it’s not at all the same. This is as good over delicate flat fish as it is over richer salmon.

My sister Esmeralda uses this on her excellent BBQ Chicken Pizza (page 91), and it’s also good brushed on burgers on the grill. Dried barbecue seasoning can be found in the spice aisle at the grocery store.

This intense wine sauce is delicious and pours lusciously. I think up excuses to serve this as often as I can, on chicken (page 83), filet mignon (page 108), or steak. This is the one sauce that I really love to eat in abundance, so this recipe makes a generous amount—spoon a little on top of each serving and pass the rest at the table.

These are ingredients I always have on hand, so this grill sauce is easy to pull together in just a few minutes to add luscious flavor to grilled steak or ribs. When I have a little more time, I make it an hour or two in advance and use half to marinate the meat before grilling and the other half to brush on while grilling.

Chipotles in adobo are smoked jalapeños in seasoned tomato sauce sold in cans available at most grocery stores. When you make this, it looks like it won’t work with such a small amount in the food processor, but once the oil is added it will come together. Most important is that you add the oil very slowly, just a few drops at first. If too much goes in at once, the sauce will separate into a gloppy mess and you’ll have to start all over again. This smoky aïoli is well worth the effort: The heavenly VeraCruz Corn (page 151) depends on it. And drizzle it over the Flautas (page 93) in place of the tomatillo-avocado sauce.

I ran track in high school, and one day my coach told me to eat more pasta to increase my energy. So I went straight home and told my mom that I needed her to pick up a bunch of spaghetti sauce at the store. My mother pointed out that the jars were too expensive—about $2 a jar back then, generally a lot more nowadays—for the amount I was likely to eat (I could eat pasta morning, noon, and night). She wisely suggested I pick up a case of tomato sauce (6 cans for $1!) and get to work. Believe me, a lot of trial and error happened between my first pot and the recipe you see here. It took years to get the right mix of spices. But to this day, I would always rather start a pot with a can of tomato sauce than open any jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce. This bolognese stores beautifully for several months in the freezer, so sometimes I just mix up a batch to store and pull out in a pinch!

This is my go-to sauce for ribs (see page 146) but it’s also great with wings.

Harissa is a fiery Moroccan condiment that is typically made with a variety of chiles packed with deep flavor. Incorporating tomato into store-bought harissa mellows out the heat, making this sauce even richer and more versatile. Keep it in your arsenal to boost the flavor of scrambled eggs or roasted potatoes, or stir it into your favorite vinaigrette—and it’s absolutely amazing on pizza.