Sauce – How to pump same amount of paste every time

I would do it the other way round, I'd fry the sausages first, then add the veg. This has a few benefits as I see it:-

• The sausages will brown more evenly, purely aesthetic but some people will think they are not cooked if they are not brown.
• You'll get the oil out of the sausages so you'll have a better idea of how much oil to add when you add the veg, if any.
• The veg will sweat down in the sausage oil which is likely to be much nicer than the other oil
• You can cook the sausages on a really low heat to start with so that they really get sticky and caramelised, then when you add the veg back in you can add a spoon of water/vinegar/stock to deglaze the pan an get that lovely sticky sausage goodness all over your veggies, which will be delicious.

You could optionally take the cooked sausages out of the pan and do the veg separately, or keep 'em in there, I'd probably take them out so I could turn the heat up a bit without having to worry about the sausages.

I'd say that when you do add the veg you want a thin (1mm ish) layer of oil in the pan. Depending on the pan this is probably a tables spoon or 2. You probably don't need to scale up as if you are cooking a bigger batch you will probably use a bigger pan, and so a similar depth of oil should suffice. If you are using the same pan, but with a deeper amount of veg, then I would add a little more, but I would make the depth of oil in the pan proportional to the depth of veggies.

Remember the golden rule. You can always add, you can never take away. And once the veg start to cook down and the volume decreases then the oil ratio will be higher, so start out with a little less than you think, just enough to coat the veg when tossed in it.

The next answer is a simple pan sauce.

After sauteing a protein in a pan, there are caramelized bits of fat, spice, and flesh that make for a great sauce base.

Getting those bits into a sauce takes a little work, but it's easily accomplished by adding an acidic liquid to the pan and allowing it to deglaze, or breakdown the fatty bits into the sauce.

You can deglaze with red or white wine, stock and lemon juice, or alcohol (be careful if it's high proof, since it will flame). After adding the acid, stir to break up the bits and let simmer for long enough to reduce the liquid about 30 to 50 %, longer for thicker sauces.

Then add fat, either butter, oil, or cream, and whatever seasonings (tomato paste, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, etc. you want in the sauce). Simmer for just long enough to incorporate the ingredient (1-2 minutes max).

This is a good technique because it can work with any pan-cooked dish and whatever ingredients you have around.

The basic steps are the same, but the results are varied and quite tasty.