Vegetable, fruit and nut purées

Many cooked vegetables, fruits and nuts may be puréed to great advantage for use in sauces. Often the resulting sauces can be lighter in texture, prettier in colour and generally more interesting. For example: shallots, mushrooms and potatoes in the Greek potato sauce skordalia; tomatoes in a classic tomato sauce; herbs in an Italian pesto, and nuts for a peanut sauce. Puréeing vegetables and fruits gives a sauce body as well as a silken texture, without the addition of dairy products; it is therefore a useful low-fat and allergy-free option. Generally these sauces are processed in the blender to thicken them, then strained through a fine sieve.