Creamy Basil Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of fresh basil leaves
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 olive oil - extra virgin olive oil is a nice choice
- 1 ½ ounces of pine nuts
- ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 pint of light cream
- salt and pepper to taste
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Servings for 6
Directions:
- Put garlic and basil into a food processor and proceed to process. Add olive oil into the food processor slowly.
- Process the mixture for around 45 minutes until the mixture emulsifies. Add Parmesan and pine nuts, blend for another two minutes.
- Pour the cream into a medium saucepan and heat on low until the cream is simmering.
- Pour half of the cream from the saucepan into the processor that contains the basil pesto. Integrate the mixture by using the pulse mode for 30 seconds.
- Pour the processed mixture back into the cream in the saucepan. Simmer for 5 or 6 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Serve and enjoy!
This is a great cheese sauce to use with chicken, pasta, salmon or any other food that you would like to use with this sauce. One can also use different kinds of cheeses that suits an individual’s taste. There are several other variations of cheeses that you could use instead of the Parmesan cheese. Asiago and Romano are some very good choices to use as a replacement. It is also delicious if you use two different kinds of cheeses and just divide them equally.
The sauce will be thick, but if you prefer a thinner sauce, you can use less cream or slightly less basil leaves. You may also prefer to use a heavy whipping cream or half and half as a substitution for the cream. Half and half would be more of a healthier choice if that is a concern for you. This delicious, creamy cheese sauce will add flavor to many different dishes.