Did you also think that to make cocktail sauce you just needed to mix ketchup and mayonnaise together??? Well I did, at least when I was a kid and used to eat fries at some fast food… I would mix the two packets and hope for a miracle that, inevitably, never happened: my mom Titti’s pink sauce (my mom) was a whole different thing!
Yes, because the pink sauce or cocktail sauce that my mom makes is fantastic! Creamy, delicate and light — I’d eat it by the spoonful spread on bread! Aside from spreading it on bread, as I do, this sauce was born to and is ideal for accompanying shellfish, fish main courses, or to create tasty appetizers.
To prepare it at its best and make it truly perfect you will need to add to the mayonnaise and ketchup some ingredients that you will discover by reading the recipe. It’s very simple to make. In the tips at the end of the recipe you’ll also find how to prepare it without ketchup and much more.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: about 1.1 lb
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 1/8 cups mayonnaise
- 7 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp cognac
- 1 tsp sweet mustard
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- 2 egg yolks (at room temperature)
- 1 2/3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- to taste Salt
- to taste Black pepper
Preparation
First of all, to prepare the cocktail sauce we need the mayonnaise. It’s simpler than it may seem: in a bowl put two room-temperature egg yolks, add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Pour the vinegar in a thin stream and start beating the yolks with an electric mixer. While you’re whipping the eggs, begin to add the vegetable oil little by little (in a thin stream and slowly otherwise the mayonnaise will split) until you obtain a thick sauce. When the mayonnaise is whipped, finish by adding the lemon juice.
At this point you can prepare the pink sauce. Pour into a bowl the mayonnaise, the ketchup, the mustard, the Worcestershire sauce, the cognac and mix with a spoon until you obtain a thick sauce with a pinkish color. Once ready, let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Now you can use it as you prefer! To decorate canapés, to fill sandwiches, to pair with fish or shellfish dishes or do as I do and simply spread it on a slice of Genoese focaccia!!!!
Notes
The pink sauce can also be prepared without using ketchup. In that case, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to the mayonnaise mixture to give it the typical pink color.
If unfortunately your pink sauce is too runny, to make it creamier you can add a few tablespoons of plain yogurt.
Once prepared it can be stored in the refrigerator in a jar for up to three days. Do not freeze.
