Port Wine, Fig & Bleu Cheese Sauce
Submitted by lynn in ma
Port wine, fig, and blue cheese sauce: a glossy reduction of caramelized aromatics, ruby port, and orange that melts tangy blue cheese into a velvety pour for pork roast or meatballs.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
62 minREADY
80 minThis is a restaurant-style reduction you can pull off at home, and patience is the whole game. It opens slow: onion, carrot, garlic, and thyme cooked gently until they soften and start to caramelize, which takes a good 20 minutes but lays down the deep, sweet base everything else builds on.
In go the figs, then orange juice and zest, ruby port, and beef stock. The pot simmers until the liquid reduces by half, concentrating the wine and fruit into something dark and glossy.
The finish is what makes people ask what’s in it: blue cheese stirred in off the heat until it melts into the sauce, turning tangy and savory against the sweet figs and port. From there it’s your call on texture, strain it for a silkier pour or blend it smooth.
Spoon it over a pork roast or a plate of meatballs and watch it disappear.
Pro Tips
- Don’t rush the caramelization; those 20-plus minutes are where the sauce earns its sweet, savory backbone.
- Reduce the port and stock by a full half so the flavor concentrates instead of staying thin and boozy.
- Stir the blue cheese in off the heat so it melts smoothly without the sauce breaking or turning grainy.
Variations
- No port? A dry red wine works; for sweeter depth, reach for a tawny port.
- Swap the blue cheese for gorgonzola or a sharp goat cheese, and trade the figs for dried cherries.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, thyme sprigs, salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables are soft and starting to caramelize, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Add the chopped figs and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Add the orange zest, juice, wine and stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half, about 30 to 40 minutes.
Add the bleu cheese crumbles; stir until melted. Remove from heat and carefully remove woody thyme sprigs.
For a thinner sauce: Pour sauce into a sieve set over a bowl and push sauce through, pressing on solids to extract as much as possible. This thickens the sauce minimally.
For a thicker sauce: Process in saucepan with an immersion blender or pour slightly-cooled sauce into a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth. Pour through a sieve, if desired.
Adjust seasonings.
Gently reheat before serving.
Comments