Easy Make-Ahead Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk,
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
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Instructions
- In the microwave (30-second bursts) or on the stovetop, warm the milk until it's warm to the touch and a bit steamy. (It does not need to be boiling hot; just warm.) Set aside.
- Melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over top, then whisk together using a whisk.,Continue to cook the roux, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. This cooks off the raw flour flavor. It's ok if the roux turns a golden color, but continue immediately to the next step if it starts to brown significantly.
- Add about 1/4 cup of the warm milk to the roux and whisk. Add another 1/4 cup and whisk some more. The roux will seize up into clumps.,Continue adding the milk in small 1/4-cup increments, whisking continuously. The clumps will eventually smooth out and look like mashed potatoes, then a thick puree, and then a sauce. Once it looks like a sauce, whisk in any remaining milk. This step should only take about a minute. You can move through the phases fairly quickly.
- Once all the milk has been added, continue to cook the sauce over medium heat while whisking, for 3 to 5 minutes. It's ready when it looks like heavy cream—slightly thickened and silky.
- Add all of the cheese at once. Whisk until the cheese has melted into the sauce and is no longer visible. At this point, the sauce should look quite thick and creamy.,You can cook it a little longer, whisking occasionally, to let it thicken a little more if you like, but it's better to err on the side of a too-thin sauce at this point. It will thicken a bit more when you reheat it.
- Transfer the sauce to storage containers and cool completely. A skin will form on the surface of the sauce and the sauce will thicken to a paste-like consistency; this is normal. Refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
- If your sauce was frozen, transfer it to the fridge to thaw overnight before reheating.,Transfer the sauce into a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Gently warm over low heat, or in 30-second bursts in the microwave, until warmed. Stir occasionally, or between every 30-second burst in the microwave. It will start off very thick and paste-like, but will soften and return to a sauce as it warms.,If the sauce seems too thick, whisk in a splash of milk, broth, or water until the sauce is as thinned as you like.
- Toss with cooked pasta or pour over cooked vegetables, chicken, or fish.,Did you love this recipe? Let us know with a rating and review!
Source
Original recipe: View Original