Toasted sourdough bread sauce

Name: Toasted sourdough bread sauce
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: Serves 10-12
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 600ml double cream; ½ onion; 1 garlic clove, halved; ½ tsp cloves; 1 tsp black peppercorns; 1 tsp sea salt flakes; 1 sage sprig; 3 thyme sprigs; 2 bay leaves; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 50g unsalted butter; 150g sourdough bread, whizzed to breadcrumbs; 100ml whole milk, or more to taste

Portion size: Serves 10-12
Hands-on time 25 min, plus overnight infusing
Difficulty: easy

Vegetarian

Tom Shingler

Head of food, delicious.

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In our book, bread sauce is an unsung festive hero and an essential for Christmas dinner. Spooned generously onto the plate and swirled with the gravy, there are few things tastier to dunk a piece of turkey or roast potato into. This version amplifies the flavour of the bread – we think it’s the best bread sauce you’ll ever make.

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Before you start

Why it’s the best bread sauce
Steeped in flavour: Bread sauce is essentially a bowl of cream thickened with bread – but it’s the aromatics that give it that comforting warmth. By heating the cream with onions and garlic (for sweet savouriness), cloves and peppercorns (for a touch of spice) and sage, thyme and bay (for herbaceous brightness) and leaving it to infuse overnight, you’ll be rewarded with a highly flavoured sauce that offers so much more than richness.

Go for sourdough: The type of bread you use in your is key to its flavour. Standard white bread is bland; brown bread is a little too robust and nutty. White sourdough is the perfect in-between, providing plenty of flavour without too much of that wholemeal taste and helping lift the richness with a subtle sour tang.

Toast to success: That sourdough bread is a delicious as is, but to really tease out its flavour you should toast it. Browning the bread gives it greater depth of flavour, which then infuses into the cream as it’s heated through (and softens the breadcrumbs once again).

Added crunch: Save some of those toasted breadcrumbs for when you serve your sauce – these can be scattered over the top. Not only does it look nice, it adds a little bit of crunch for a nice contrast against the creamy sauce below.

Make ahead: You can make the bread sauce up to 3 days in advance, keep it covered in the fridge, then gently reheat with an extra splash of milk.

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Ingredients

600ml double cream
½ onion
1 garlic clove, halved
½ tsp cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1 sage sprig
3 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
50g unsalted butter
150g sourdough bread, whizzed to breadcrumbs
100ml whole milk, or more to taste

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Method

Put the cream, onion, garlic, cloves, peppercorns, salt, sage, thyme and 1 of the bay leaves in a saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer over a medium heat, then cover and set aside to cool. Transfer to the fridge and leave to infuse overnight.
On the same day, add the oil and butter to a frying pan with the breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for about 8 minutes, stirring, until golden. Cool, then transfer to an airtight container and set aside overnight.
The next day, strain the infused cream through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan. Set aside a small handful of the breadcrumbs to garnish, then tip the rest into the infused cream. Cook over a low-medium heat, stirring regularly, for 3-5 minutes or until the mixture thickens and the breadcrumbs plump up to create a thick paste. Pour in the milk a little at a time until you’re happy with the texture – we like it quite thick (like a chunky purée). You may not need all the milk – or you may need a little more to loosen the sauce.
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To serve, transfer to a serving bowl, top with the reserved breadcrumbs and decorate with the remaining bay leaf.