Ali and I love purées. There is something very rewarding from getting a nice creamy
texture and deep complex flavors out of an otherwise boring root vegetable (sorry
root vegetable). Even tricker, is doing it without a ton of butter (which is why purées
taste so good in restaurants). But through a lot of trial and error we have come up
with a way to archive that silky texture without adding butter.
Purée Basics
To start, chop whatever you are puréeing into even cubes, approx 1". Place in a
medium sauce pot and fill with water until they are just covered. Add your first layer
of seasoning: Salt, Pepper, and either whole fresh herbs, or dried spices. Cover,
bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook lid off until fork tender (depends on
what you are cooking).
Using a slotted spoon move your cooked veg into a food processor (save the liquid in the pot). Now usually here is where restaurants add the butter or oil. But instead, pour in approx 1 tsp of the concentrated water left over from cooking. Next add your second layer of flavoring, little salt, pepper and whatever fresh herbs (chopped) or dried spices you originally added. Blend on high till smooth, periodically scrapping the edges. If needed, add more of the concentrated water to make it smother. Taste, and adjust seasoning accordingly.
Below are a couple different purées that work well with the recipes on this site. All the recipes make approx 4 medium size portions.
