Ask Ottolenghi: what’s the secret to vegetarian-friendly sauces?

There are endless takes on tomato sauce, as well as pesto- or yoghurt-based accompaniments, and you’ll find a very versatile friend in tahini …

I find making sauces for my vegetarian diet quite challenging. Any advice about how to moisten my meals?
Eric, Melbourne, Australia
There are so many directions in which you could happily go, tomato sauce being possibly the most obvious. I batch-cook all my tomato sauces – whether it’s infused with a dried chilli (which is great on butter beans), or just a basil sprig (again, for butter beans, or to stir through pasta); it’s also lovely spooned over cubed tofu or for braising eggs shakshuka-style.

Then there’s perhaps my favourite vegan ingredient, tahini, not least because it’s so rich and “creamy” and substantial. Thinned down with a little lemon juice and water, plus crushed garlic and salt to taste, it’s glorious drizzled over all sorts of roast vegetables, salad leaves, grains and so on – the possibilities are almost endless; if you like, blitz with fresh parsley or coriander (that’s wonderful on chickpeas or a whole roast cauliflower, by the way). I also love to mix tahini with soy sauce and maybe a touch of honey – the combination is a dream with steamed aubergine or even just plain rice.