Beef Dripping Gravy

Dripping is the fat and the jelly that sets under a roast, and a jar of it in the fridge is a Sunday dinner waiting to happen. This gravy uses the brown jelly at the bottom as much as the white fat on top, which is why it tastes of roast beef even though nothing has been roasted.

Ingredients

Makes about 600ml, enough for six plates

• 3 tbsp beef dripping include the dark jelly from the bottom of the jar
• 2 onions, sliced thinly
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp (30g) plain flour
• 750ml (1 1/3 pints) hot beef stock
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp malt vinegar
• salt and black pepper

Kit

• Heavy saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Whisk

Method

1. Melt the dripping in a heavy pan over a medium heat. If your jar has set in layers, dig down for the dark jelly as well as the pale fat, since that jelly is concentrated roasting juices and carries most of the flavour.

2. Add the sliced onions and the sugar and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. You want them properly brown and collapsed, not just soft, so let them catch a little and scrape it back in.

3. Turn the heat down, add the flour and stir it through the onions. Cook for three minutes, longer than you would for a pan gravy, because there is no roasting tin residue here and the toasted flour is doing that job instead.

4. Pour in a quarter of the hot stock and beat it smooth with a wooden spoon, then switch to a whisk and add the rest in two goes.

5. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for ten minutes so the onions give up the last of their sweetness and the gravy darkens to a proper mahogany.

6. Add the Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. The vinegar is important, it stops a dripping gravy tasting flat and heavy on the tongue.

7. Decide on texture. Leave the onions in for a rustic gravy for sausages, or blitz it briefly and pass it through a sieve for something smooth enough to serve with a roast.

8. Season with salt and a lot of black pepper, then let it stand off the heat for five minutes so any surplus fat rises and can be skimmed.

Tips worth knowing

• Save dripping every time you roast beef. Strain it warm into a clean jam jar and it keeps for months in the fridge.
• Shop bought dripping works but has no jelly in it, so add a teaspoon of Marmite or a beef stock pot to make up the depth.
• The onions must go past golden. Golden onions make a sweet gravy, dark brown onions make a savoury one.
• A pinch of mustard powder in with the flour gives a gentle background heat that suits beef without tasting of mustard.

Keeping and reheating

Fridge for four days, freezer for three months. It sets very firm because of the fat content, so break it up in the pan over a low heat with a splash of water before it will pour again.

Questions people ask