Garlic Pasta Sauce
My family loves all kinds of white sauces such as Alfredo and they love anything with garlic. I make Alfredo quite often, but unless I plan ahead, I rarely have heavy cream. There were many times that I wanted to make Alfredo but didn’t have the heavy cream or Parmesan cheese, so I figured out a way to make a white garlic sauce that they love that doesn’t require heavy cream or Parmesan.
I never make it exactly the same way and it can be very flexible to accommodate your likes or dislikes. I start by melting butter in a large non-stick skillet and sauteing garlic, onions and sometimes mushrooms. If my daughter is home I have to skip the mushrooms.
After a few minutes, I add in flour and stir until it is combined. My family likes a really strong garlic flavor so I also add some garlic salt and pepper.
Then I add in the milk and stir until it thickens. It is almost like making gravy but I leave it a little thinner for a smooth sauce.
Sometimes I go ahead and add some Parmesan or mozzarella if I have it. I have also added chicken instead of mushrooms. If I add chicken, I usually have some already cooked in the freezer and just add it in just a few minutes before it is done. If you wanted to cook fresh chicken, I would dice it up and cook in a little bit of butter. I would remove it from the skillet, make the sauce and add it back in before serving.
This makes a lot of sauce, so we usually have some left over but it reheats well. If it is a little thicker than you want when you reheat, just add a little milk to thin it out some. If you are cooking for just 2 and you don’t want leftovers, you may wish to half the recipe. We cook lots of different types of pasta, I prefer regular spaghetti, but my son loves farfalle or penne, and my daughter loves angel hair. I always cook pasta in salted water and we serve ours separately so everyone can fix their bowl to their preference. If we have pasta leftover, I rinse it to remove the starch and store it covered in fresh water.
Garlic Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
1 stick butter
3 tbls minced garlic
1/2 small onion – diced
1 can sliced mushrooms (optional)
3/4 cup flour
4 cups milk
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 oz Parmesan or mozzarella cheese (optional)
Chop or dice up garlic and onion. Melt butter in a large skillet, then saute the garlic, onion and mushrooms. Once the onions have turned translucent, sprinkle flour, garlic salt and pepper over the butter mixture. Stir to combine, then add milk and stir until it thickens. If you want, once you remove from heat add in cheese and stir to melt.
Do you have a favorite pasta sauce? If you try it, leave a comment and let me know how it goes.
Make up some Garlic Bread and Fried Yellow Squash for a complete meal.
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