Name: Espagnole Sauce
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 8 hr (includes making stock)
Yield: Makes about 2 2/3 cups
Ingredients: 1 small carrot, coarsely chopped; 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped; 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter; 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 4 cups hot beef stock or reconstituted beef-veal demi-glace concentrate*; 1/4 cup canned tomato purée; 2 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped; 1 celery rib, coarsely chopped; 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns; 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf

Image may contain Food Plant Pottery Vase Jar and Gravy

Espagnole is a classic brown sauce, typically made from brown stock, mirepoix, and tomatoes, and thickened with roux. Given that the sauce is French in origin, where did the name come from? According to Alan Davidson, in The Oxford Companion to Food, "The name has nothing to do with Spain, any more than the counterpart term allemande has anything to do with Germany. It is generally believed that the terms were chosen because in French eyes Germans are blond and Spaniards are brown."

Cooks' note:

Sauce can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered.

Recipe notes

Caramelized Onion Pasta

Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.

Heavenly Halva Cake

Serve a thick slice for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.

Vodka Gochujang Pasta

This pasta has some really big energy about it. It’s so extra, it’s the type of thing you should be eating in your bikini while drinking a magnum of rosé, not in Hebden Bridge (or wherever you live), but on a beach on Mykonos.

Our Favorite French Onion Soup

Caramelized onions, melty Gruyère, and a deeply savory broth deliver the kind of comfort that doesn’t need improving.

Kung Pao Cabbage With Tofu

Reliable cabbage is cooked in the punchy sauce and then combined with store-bought baked tofu and roasted cashews for a salad that can also be eaten with rice.

Smothered Italian Sausage

This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.

Golden Mushroom Soup With Orzo & a Pat of Butter

This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.

White Bean Turkey Chili

A dash of cocoa powder adds depth and richness to the broth of this easy turkey chili.