A coulis is not a sauce, and it's not a gravy. It's a vegetable or fruit purée – smooth, concentrated, and considerably more versatile than either one. The French gave it the name, which should surprise nobody. Oui, vive la France - I did live there, after all.

Fresh from the village - the start of a roasted red pepper coulis. The Flexible Chef.

This roasted red pepper coulis starts with fresh peppers from the village — odd-shaped, fragrant, and tasting unmistakably of pepper in a way that supermarket ones rarely do. Roasting them first caramelises the natural sugars and deepens the flavour. The result is a smooth, vibrant purée that works as a sauce for grilled meat or fish, stirred into soups, or frozen in ice cube trays and pulled out whenever you need a quick flavour hit.

Ingredients

3–4 red peppers 1 red onion, halved 1 carrot, roughly chopped 3–4 garlic cloves, unpeeled 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp tomato purée 1 small ladle hot chicken or vegetable stock Splash of balsamic vinegar Sea salt and white pepper

How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the peppers, red onion, carrot, and garlic on a roasting tray. Roast for 30–40 minutes until the pepper skins are blistered and the vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelise.
2. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Peel the skins from the peppers and squeeze the soft garlic out of its papery wrapper. Discard both.
3. Roughly chop the roasted vegetables and place in a pan with a little olive oil over a low heat. Cook gently for 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomato purée and a ladle of hot stock. Stir and simmer until the liquid has reduced and thickened.
5. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Transfer to a blender with the roasted garlic, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and a little salt and white pepper. Blitz until smooth. Add a little more stock if the consistency needs loosening.
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Roasted Red Pepper Coulis - Blended in Food Processor

How to Use Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

The simplest way is spooning it over grilled meat or fish — a poached chicken breast stuffed with peppers and finished with this coulis is a particularly good combination, alongside sautéed asparagus spears and a chilled glass of dry white that's been winking at you from the fridge all afternoon.

It also works stirred into soups and pasta sauces or frozen in ice cube trays for whenever you need a quick depth of flavour. It keeps well in the fridge for up to five days.

If you enjoy cooking with a coulis, my pan-fried pork loin with raspberry coulis is worth a look – a different fruit, a different direction, and equally straightforward to make.

This roasted red pepper coulis is part of my Sauces, Salsas & Dressings collection. Wonky photos, proper sauces, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef