Pesto Cream Sauce
2001-07-25 @ 11:06 p.m.
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Jake has requested that I tell you about the leftovers we had for supper last night.
I had some leftover Pesto Cream Sauce in the fridge from having tried to make spinach and cheese ravioli with pesto cream sauce recently. It all tasted pretty good, but I didn't get the pasta thin enough for the ravioli by rolling it out by hand (maybe there is a pasta maker in my Christmas gift future) so the raviolis were really thick and heavy (and oddly wrinkled).
Anyway, I had some pesto cream sauce left, so last night I thawed out some frozen spinach and cooked some linguine. I warmed the spinach together with the cream sauce and served it over the linguine. [Frozen spinach is a little watery when it's cooked. If you thaw it and then drain it by pressing it between lots of paper towels this will be less watery and more creamy.] It was quite good and very quick. Of course you have to have leftover pesto cream sauce. Okay, so you could make it for this dish to start with. Here is the recipe:
Pesto
3 tbsp pine nuts
2 cups basil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 cups olive oil
Toast the pine nuts (I toss them into a small skillet with the stove eye on med-high and shake them around until they start to turn brown.) Place all of the ingredients in a food processor except for the oil and cheese. Puree the ingredients then start to drizzle the oil. When the oil is all in, add the cheese.
Cream Sauce
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup white wine (or vermouth)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
In a small saucepot sweat the onions. When they are translucent add the butter. When the butter has melted add the flour. This will make a roux. (This doesn't actually cook long enough for it to make a brown roux. It's more like a paste.) Cook the roux for 2-3 minutes. After the roux has formed a mass add the white wine. Let this reduce by half. Once this is done add the cream. Bring this to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let go for about 15 minutes. Once the sauce has reached a proper consistency, season and remove from heat. Combine the pesto with the cream sauce.
I got this recipe from a cooking class I took that was taught by a chef from a local Italian restaurant. Unfortunately I have forgotten his name to give him credit for it.
Jake had a glass of Chardonnay and I had a white wine from Languedoc in France. It's a completely new wine to me. I don't even know what the grape or grape blend is yet. But it is a light to medium bodied white with a crisp, fruity, minerally style. It went well with the spinach and pesto. I assume the Chardonnay was fine too. Sauvignon Blanc would probably be the ideal wine to have with it.
Last night was supposed to be date night, but Sara had to work an evening shift, so dates were called off. I took advantage of the situation to get both of my favorite butches together to have supper with me. Since I did it in the guise of eating up leftovers, my frugal girls were only too happy to oblige. (Badsnake had some leftover steak from our dinner out and corn on the cob from another meal, then made some nachos of which she generously shared a few with me.) We had a very relaxed evening in front of the new big screen TV watching a video copy of Aladdin that Badsnake and I have almost worn out. We also finished up the last of the chocolate brownie ice cream - a recipe I promise to share with you soon.
I've had several requests in my guest book and by e-mail that I also promise to get to. I'm not ignoring you, just running out of time.
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