Sauce Aurore (Béchamel, Tomato Purée, Sherry)

This 2nd generation mother sauce derives from a finished Sauce Béchamel. Aurora sauce is a creamy tomato sauce for eggs, vegetables, fish, chicken, and pasta dishes. It's made by adding tomato purée to a basic béchamel sauce or velouté sauce or compound sauces such as ​suprême sauce, or ​Allemande (German) sauce. The sauce also is known as aurore, the French word for "sunrise," which is the gorgeous pinkish-red colour the sauce becomes after adding the tomato product to a classic French sauce of your choosing. We have made this aurora with a béchamel, one of the five mother sauces, as its base so that it is suitable for vegetarians, but you also can try it with 1 qt of velouté (chicken, veal or fish), another mother sauce, or any of the other compound sauces mentioned for a change of pace.

Sauce Béchamel:
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached
2½ cups milk, warmed but not hot
1 pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
¼ tsp. sea salt
⅛ tsp. white pepper, freshly ground

Sauce Aurora:
½ cup tomato purée
2 Tbsp. sherry

Make the Béchamel Sauce:
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don't let it brown - about 2 minutes.

Add the warm milk gradually, continuing to whisk as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper, lower the heat to simmer, and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the heat.

Make the Aurora Sauce:
Once the béchamel sauce has come to a boil and has thickened, remove it from the heat.

Stir in the tomato purée and sherry, simmer for another minute and serve.

Use right away or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.

Makes about 2 cups.