Roasted Garlic-Ricotta Pasta Sauce

blucoat's Note:

This is a flavourful and healthy alternative to traditional Alfredo sauce. Use with flat pastas like fettuccine. The recipe is from "Conscious Cuisine: A New Style of Cooking from the Kitchens of Chef Cary Neff" based on the cuisine he developed while chef at Miraval Spa.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8

Yield: 3.0 cups

• ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1⁄3; cup chopped roasted garlic
• ¼ cup chopped roasted shallot
• ½ cup white wine
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch , mixed with
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1⁄3; cup fat-free ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Stir in the roasted garlic and shallots and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until reduced and the pan is almost dry, about 3 to 5 minutes, to concentrate the flavors of the sauce. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Mix in the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
3. Place the ricotta cheese and about 1/3 of a cup of the garlic mixture into a blender. With the blender on, slowly pour the remaining sauce through the opening in the blender lid; the sauce will thicken.
4. Transfer the sauce back into the saucepan and stir in the basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Use the sauce immediately, or cool quickly by setting in a bowl of ice and water. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or freeze for about 1 month.

Reviews

[Lightchild247]

My rating is based on taste alone, since I don't believe in downgrading recipes for things that might have been due to not following the directions. I made half of this and got three very small servings, so either my measurements were very off (which is possible- I was using frozen cubes of vegetable broth), or the servings on this recipe are somewhat inaccurate. Also, it didn't seem to require the cornstarch mixture to thicken it up, so I left it out. I'd roasted the garlic and shallots in advance, so this made for a very quick meal when I got home from work, particularly as I used an inversion blender at the end. It's pretty good- a very nice way to showcase roasted garlic.