Jamie Oliver's Epic BBQ Sauce
A deeply flavoured barbecue sauce built from a fried onion, garlic and chilli paste, warm spices, orange and balsamic.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 fresh red chillies, stalks removed
- Olive oil
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme or lemon thyme, leaves picked
- 10 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
- 1/2 a bunch fresh coriander (15g)
- 10 bay leaves
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 6 cloves
- Zest and juice of 2 oranges
- 200g soft brown sugar
- 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 200ml tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp English mustard
- 200ml apple juice
- 285ml water
- Sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Blitz the onion, garlic and chillies together in a food processor until you’ve got a really fine paste. Pour a lug of olive oil into a pan and gently fry the paste for 5 minutes on a low heat to get the flavours going.
- While that’s happening, add the herbs and spices to the food processor, then peel in strips of orange zest using a speed peeler (avoiding the white pith) and blitz well. Add this puréed mixture to the pan and cook for another minute.
- Add the sugar, stir in well and cook for a few more minutes, until it begins to dissolve and you get a thick brown paste.
- Pour in the water and cook for 2 more minutes, then squeeze in the orange juice and add all the remaining ingredients along with a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat a touch and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the mixture starts to thicken slightly.
- Pour the sauce slowly through a fine sieve into a large bowl and get rid of any larger bits left behind. Rinse the sieve and pass the sauce through again so it’s really silky.
- Leave to cool completely, then either divide the sauce between sterilised jars or use it straight away. Once in the fridge, use within about a week, or keep in sterilised, sealed jars in a cool dark cupboard for up to 6 months.