I love bread sauce with my Christmas dinner, but many recipes are wasteful and outdated. Most call for fresh white breadcrumbs, made without the crusts, as well as a clove-studded onion that’s infused with milk and then thrown in the bin. Why, I have no clue. Save time and waste, and embrace the beige: use brown bread, keep the crusts on (even bread ends work here) and add a little grated onion instead of using and chucking a whole one. Your brown bread sauce will be more nutritious and flavourful for it. Even if you’re a staunch traditionalist and insist on using a whole onion, after lifting it from the milk, remove the cloves, cut the onion in half and roast it alongside your other Christmas veg, or use it as a trivet on which to roast the meat (at the very least it will give your gravy a great head start), or save it and put in a Boxing Day stew.
Leftover brown bread sauce (with dairy and vegan options)
When I make bread sauce, I tend to use stale brown bread, complete with crusts, bread ends and all, because that’s what we usually buy in. It will turn the sauce a delicate, light beige colour, and fill it with flavour and nutrition. Keep bread ends and crusts out of plastic packaging, so they can dry completely, then box up until needed, or freeze. I’ve included options to make a vegan version of the sauce, too, but all the ingredients are pretty much interchangeable, so use whatever you have available.
I love the pungent, cinnamonny, bubblegum aroma of fresh bay leaves, but they are expensive to buy. Fortunately, they grow in huge abundance, so even if you don’t have a bay tree, ask a neighbour or a friend for any trimmed leaves. To preserve them, just hang them up somewhere in the kitchen until dried, then store them in a jar for up to a year.
Serves 6-8
570ml whole milk, or plant-based alternative
6 cloves
1 small bay leaf, fresh or dried
A pinch of nutmeg
Salt and black pepper
¼ white onion, peeled and grated
100g stale wholegrain bread, blitzed to crumbs
30g butter, or 30ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp double cream, or plant-based alternative (optional)
Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the cloves, bay leaf and nutmeg, then season with sea salt and black pepper. Stir in the grated onion and breadcrumbs, cover the pan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for three minutes, then take off the heat and leave to rest, still covered, for 30 minutes and up to four hours.
When you’re ready to eat, stir in the butter or olive oil and gently reheat the sauce, again stirring occasionally. Cook for five minutes, then finish with the cream, if using. Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve hot from a warmed jug.
