Michel Guérard's Sauce Vierge Recipe on Food52 (2024)

5 Ingredients or Fewer

by: Genius Recipes

June21,2017

3.7

7 Ratings

  • Prep time 2 hours
  • Cook time 30 minutes
  • Makes about 2 cups sauce, or 4 servings

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Author Notes

Sauce vierge (literally, virgin sauce) was created in 1976 by Michel Guérard, one of the forces behind the lighter, fresher nouvelle cuisine that sprang up in reaction to cuisine classique, dripping with all its hefty mother sauces. There have emerged only a few non-negotiables: fresh tomato, olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh herbs—but from there it's up to you. In this way, sauce vierge is a true foundational mother sauce, one from which we can build many. Adapted very loosely from La Cuisine Gourmande by Michel Guérard (1977). —Genius Recipes

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 3 large, ripe tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
  • 2 whole, peeled garlic cloves, lightly smashed
  • 5 tablespoonsroughly chopped fresh herbs (any combination of chives, tarragon, parsley, basil, chervil, cilantro)
  • 1 cupextra-virgin olive oil (or to taste)
  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • Pinch of ground coriander (optional)
Directions
  1. Roughly chop the tomatoes (peel and seed them first if you like, but we prefer not to). Mix with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, cover, and leave to sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours; alternately, mix the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer the sauce very slowly over low heat for 30 minutes.
  2. Taste and adjust the seasoning, remove the cloves of garlic, and serve warm or room temperature, over fish, pasta, chicken, or anything else summer throws at you.

Tags:

  • Pasta
  • Condiment/Spread
  • French
  • Clove
  • Vegetable
  • Make Ahead
  • Serves a Crowd
  • 5 Ingredients or Fewer
  • One-Pot Wonders
  • Father's Day
  • Summer
  • Fourth of July

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • nancy essig

  • June

  • Mikele Ann Galbraith

  • [emailprotected]

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

Popular on Food52

12 Reviews

[emailprotected] January 5, 2020

I haven't been able to print

I've made this a couple times now, once gently simmered and once uncooked. Used an assortment of CSA heirloom tomatoes. Rave reviews both times. Cut down a great deal on the olive oil.

tamater S. July 16, 2018

Good call; as Ttrockwood said: "This is such a crazy ton of olive oil! I used maybe 1/3 cup and it was more than generous for the uncooked version."

nancy E. August 2, 2017

Could you tell me how this would work on slow roasted Sockeye Salmon

tamater S. August 2, 2017

The base of my version is chopped fresh tomatoes & chopped preserved lemons. All the other things are optional, such as: an anchovy, herbs, oil, etc. The sauce may be heated through in any manner, or spooned room temp over hot cooked rice n' veg, or meat. Keeps well in fridge or freezer.
Simple way to add umami.
*if adding anchovy, remember the preserved lemons are also salty.

Read July 4, 2017

Surely this makes 4+ cups? 1.5 lbs of tomatoes would be 3 cups pureed, and choppped would take a bit more room.

Ttrockwood July 1, 2017

This is such a crazy ton of olive oil! I used maybe 1/3 cup and it was more than generous for the uncooked version. The tomato juices and oil puddle in the bottom of this dish- i actually drained that and used as a salad dressing for some greens which was very tasty!

Mikele A. July 5, 2017

Agree about the excess of oil, and adore your idea with reusing as dressing!

June June 26, 2017

This is very weird, but I have been making this for years using tomatoes, garlic, chives, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar for a family favorite bruschetta! With the exception of the vinegar....it is exactly the same!! And yes...either way....it is outstanding and perfect for my veggie garden that produces all the above in abundance!! Try it...you will definitely adore it!

Saffron3 June 22, 2017

I'm going to make this all summer. Thank you.

Vickie June 21, 2017

This sounds delicious, healthy and simple! Wondering if it would freeze -as I have an abundance of fresh herbs and tomatoes at this time?

Nicole July 5, 2017

Freezing tomatoes ruins their texture, unfortunately. Source: have 3000-plant tomato farm.

Michel Guérard's Sauce Vierge Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Where did sauce Vierge come from? ›

The sauce was popularised in the 1980s by Michel Guérard, a French chef, author, one of the founders of nouvelle cuisine, and the inventor of cuisine minceur, from Eugénie-les-Bains, Aquitaine, in south-western France; the sauce has since become a modern classic.

What is sauce Vierge made of? ›

What goes in Sauce Vierge. There are all sorts of versions around, but essentially the core ingredients in it are fresh tomato, olive oil and fresh herbs along with a touch of acidity, usually from lemon.

What is the meaning of vierge in English? ›

être vierge to be a virgin. Il est vierge. He's a virgin.

What are the five sauces from Escoffier? ›

In honor of our namesake Auguste Escoffier's birthday in October, all five mother sauces will be addressed:
  • Béchamel Sauce.
  • Velouté Sauce.
  • Espagnole Sauce.
  • Hollandaise Sauce.
  • Tomate Sauce.
Oct 4, 2023

Which mother sauce did Escoffier add? ›

About 100 years later, chef Auguste Escoffier reclassified Allemande as a “daughter sauce,” or variation, of velouté. He also added Sauce Tomat and Hollandaise to the mix, leaving us with the five mother sauces we still learn today.

What are the five daughter sauces? ›

Many sauces, often referred to as daughter sauces, can be derived from mother sauces.
  • Béchamel sauce.
  • Espagnole sauce.
  • Velouté sauce.
  • Tomato sauce.
  • Hollandaise sauce.

Where did Italian sauce originate? ›

The exact location of Marinara Sauce's creation seems to be lost to time, but it was likely first developed in the southern region of Italy, in either Naples or Sicily, after tomatoes first appeared in Europe via explorers from the New World in the 16th century.

What sauce originated from France? ›

The five French mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato. Developed in the 19th century by French chef Auguste Escoffier, mother sauces serve as a starting point for a variety of delicious sauces used to complement countless dishes, including veggies, fish, meat, casseroles, and pastas.

Where was pink sauce invented? ›

Miami, Florida

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