White Pasta Sauce

White Pasta Sauce

from inthekitchenwithmatt.com
40 min
8 servings

This easy homemade white pasta sauce recipe is my favorite white sauce for pasta. How can you go wrong with cream, butter, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic? There isn't anything in that sentence I didn't like, haha. This sauce is a great sauce to build upon. Instead of using chicken, use shrimp. Don't like bacon? That is okay leave it out, and add a bit of olive oil instead. Lots of possibilities. If I can do it, you can do it. Let's get started!

Ingredients

  • 2 to 4 strips of bacon (I always use 4)
  • 1/2 of a medium onion (about 1 cup chopped. (150g))
  • 5 to 6 cloves of fresh garlic (crushed/minced)
  • 1/4 cup of unsalted butter (57g)
  • 1 cup of heavy cream (add more to thin sauce out or add milk (240ml))
  • 3/4 cup of cut grape tomatoes (150g)
  • 1 1/2 cups of cheese (mozzarella parmesan blend)
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (2g)
  • 1/4 tsp. of ground pepper (1g)
  • 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp. of salt (taste it first before adding in the salt)
  • 1 cup of diced pre-cooked chicken (125g)
  • 1 handful of fresh spinach
  • 1 box (1lb. of penne pasta noodles (454g) cooked for 10 minutes in boiling water, then drained.)

Directions

  1. 1

    First take a skillet or sauce pot and heat it on medium heat. Then add in your bacon. Let the bacon cook for 5 to 6 minutes. If you want this a little bit healthier after the bacon has cooked a bit, remove the grease and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to replace it.

  2. 2

    Now let's add in our onions and let them cook down a bit in that bacon grease.

  3. 3

    Next add the minced garlic cloves and let them cook down a bit, then add in the butter and allow it to melt.

  4. 4

    Now we need to add in the cream. If you want your white sauce to be less thick you may add in more cream or some milk a little bit later. Allow the cream to heat up stirring the sauce occasionally.

  5. 5

    Next add the tomatoes. Let the tomatoes cook in the sauce for a few minutes to soften up.

  6. 6

    Then stir the cheese into the sauce until it is completely melted.

  7. 7

    Give the sauce a little taste. You may want to add in more salt. I also usually add in pepper and garlic powder, I like garlic. It is very important to taste the sauce before adding extra seasonings especially extra salt. The bacon and cheese will have already added a certain amount of saltiness by themselves.

  8. 8

    Finish that sauce off with some cooked chicken and spinach or use shrimp or another protein. Add your drained cooked pasta to the sauce. After stirring in the pasta for about a minute your pasta is ready to serve. *Note cook your pasta about 1 minute less then package says, usually right around 10 minutes.

  9. 9

    Enjoy that yummy white pasta sauce with your favorite pasta. Penne is always my favorite pasta of choice. But this same sauce works great with other pasta as well. And other proteins like shrimp instead of chicken, etc.