Bored of ketchup but not of tomatoes? Let’s make some authentic Salsa Brava to shake up those boring fried potatoes!
Liking or hating something is just a state of mind. If we want to change, we have the power to do so. If we set our mind to do something like living a healthy sugar free life, we definitely are able to succeed in it.
Unfortunately, there are circumstances weigh on our dieting choices and require a seemingly eternal struggle second after second at any meal consisting of ready-made food.
It’s easy to get hooked on processed food, given the amount of sugar is stuffed there in a bid to mask the taste of the preservatives or just push it over to the realm of edibility.
Once we got used to them, it’s hard to get rid of them. Just think of how miserable life would be without mayo or even worse without ketchup.
It’s actually quite relaxed and equilibrated, especially because mayo can be made at home with totally natural ingredients fitting into most now popular diet trends but ketchup is another matter.
Ketchup is originally a tomato sauce but anyone, who has seen a couple of pureed tomato, can testify that real tomatoes are a far cry from ketchup, both in texture and taste, as well.
The bad news is that no matter how hard we try, we aren’t going to be able replicate our favorite condiment at home without the same ingredients the factory uses. Of course, we can always try but the sooner we put our past behind us, the sooner we can eat our future meals.
The best thing is in using new dishes in our new diet is that we have no expectations that need to be fulfilled. Flattening cauliflower into circles and topping it won’t make a pizza ever but make our friends highly disappointed in our new selves. Call it a vegetable plate and everyone will know what to expect, thus cancelling the night.
Salsa Brava will not disappoint anyone who is into sauces though nor those who are looking for an alternative to ketchup.
It is a very popular Spanish sauce that is served on potato wedges as an appetizer in Spain for centuries without proper recognition from the rest of the world.
As sugar is not the main ingredient, it couldn’t be measured up to any ketchup. It’s so much better than any of that.
Its sweetness comes from the slightly caramelized onion that is blended together with the zesty of tomatoes. The vinegar is as much essential ingredient as it is with gazpacho to highlight the character of the dish.
Most of the time, the Bravas Sauce is served on potatoes (patatas in Spanish) which makes it Patatas Bravas. It is a very popular snack across Spain and sometimes given away free with drinks as an appetizer instead of chips or olives.
Making it, requires some sort of blender even if we use canned pureed tomato. The mixing process does not only chop the onions up into indistinguishable pieces but with the added olive oil change the whole color and texture of the sauce.
However, it will be a disappointment for those who are looking for a healthy ketchup, Salsa Brava will be so much more if we give it a chance to prove itself on its own.
Ingredients
- ½ cup / 125ml Olive oil (NOT extra virgin)
- 2 medium Onion (diced)
- 2 cloves Garlic (crushed)
- 2 tablespoons / 30ml Vinegar
- 2 lb / 800g Tomato or puree
- 1 teaspoon / 3g Paprika
- Optional:
- 2 tablespoons / 30ml White wine
- Hot paprika or any other hot pepper to taste
How to make Bravas sauce
- Dice up onions.
- Heat olive oil in a pan then saute the diced onion on high heat until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the crushed garlic and saute until it gets fragrant for about a minute.
- Mix in the tomatoes or the pureed tomato.
- Spoon in the vinegar and/or the optional white wine.
- Cook it on low heat for about 5 – 10 minutes or until the sauce gets the desired thickness.
- Sprinkle in the paprika and any other optional flavorings then cook it for another minute.
- Pour the sauce into a high walled bowl then blend everything together until getting an orange looking sauce.
Enjoy!
Tomato can be so much more than just Tomato sauce. A bit of this or a bit of that makes a difference:
Patatas Bravas Recipe - Bravas Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup Olive oil NOT extra virgin
- 2 medium Onion diced
- 2 cloves Garlic crushed
- 2 tablespoons Vinegar
- 2 lb Tomato or puree
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- Optional:
- 2 tablespoons White wine
- Hot paprika or any other hot pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dice up onions.
- Heat olive oil in a pan then saute the diced onion on high heat until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the crushed garlic and saute until it gets fragrant for about a minute.
- Mix in the tomatoes or the pureed tomato.
- Spoon in the vinegar and/or the optional white wine.
- Cook it on low heat for about 5 - 10 minutes or until the sauce gets the desired thickness.
- Sprinkle in the paprika and any other optional flavorings then cook it for another minute.
- Pour the sauce into a high walled bowl then blend everything together until getting an orange looking sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Pin now, Enjoy later!
I’ve been searching for the secret behind Salsa Brava’s authentic colour you find in the dishes served in Spain.
Now I discover all I had to do was blend to go from red to orange!? What in the blending process do you think makes it turn from red to orange?
Happy to see you’ve cracked the secret! Using an electric blender adds oxygen to the tomato sauce. Oxygen reacts with tomato resulting in oxidized tomatoes which appear to be orange in color. If for any reason someone wants to preserve the red color of the tomatoes using a food mill, in place of a blender, will be a better choice.