Champagne Cream Sauce
When I first made this cream sauce I was blown away, I mean, really blown away. I’ve had many fantastic cream sauces at different restaurants before, but this sauce tops them all. It is sweet and rich in taste, but not too rich. You can of course control the amount of cream you put into the sauce, which I put in very little cream and more champagne, and it is still incredibly rich in taste. The combination of the sweet carrots, shallots and champagne, pack this sauce full of flavor.
So when we had company visiting I wanted to serve something different, something special, not the typical run of the mill and this Champagne Cream Sauce immediately came to mind. And as an added bonus, it is pretty easy to make. No need to be slaving away over a hot stove for hours and hours. I served this with a mix of my favorite ravioli and a salad.
Ingredients:
6 tablespoon butter, divided
2 shallots, finely minced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoon tomato puree
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup Champagne
3 tablespoon flour
Heavy cream
Directions:
Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Add the shallots and carrots and saute over medium-low heat until tender. Add the tomato puree and stir, cook until the mixture has begun to caramelize, 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and Champagne and stir to blend. Bring to a simmer and reduce to about 1/3.
Once the sauce has reduced, heat the remaining 3 tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and whisk, let it cook for 2-3 minutes to form a roux. Add the roux to the carrot mixture in the skillet and stir to mix well. Whisk in a little heavy cream and more champagne and/or chicken stock until the sauce has reached desired consistency. (Here I tend to go a little heavy on the Champagne). Pass the sauce through a strainer to remove the shallots and carrots. Serve warm atop your favorite Ravioli.
Source: Annie’s Eats, originally from Fotocuisine
My Danish Kitchen 