White Wine Sauce and Shrimp Scampi

A delicious and simple sauce made with white wine and butter. Used to flavor pastas and many other dishes.

*picture courtesy of Pixaby.com (free images)

If you have never tried white wine sauce you definitely need to. The first time I made this for myself was when I made a Shrimp Scampi. At once I was addicted. It's a very simple sauce to make and takes very little time but the flavor is absolutely amazing. The wine adds a very delicate and fruity flavor to the sauce and you just mix it with butter, garlic, and shallots. Such simple and easy to find ingredients combine to make a delicious sauce that tastes luscious and is great with pastas and shellfish.

Some things to keep in mind about White Wine Sauce (note that I'm no expert I know very little about wine but I know what I like and I love to experiment):

Use a wine that you would drink. It doesn't need to be expensive (I'm no wine connoisseur I usually spend no more than 5-10 dollars on a bottle of wine) but it is reduced so the flavors are concentrated.

Use a dry white wine. I prefer Pinot Grigio but a sauvignon blanc or even a chardonnay would be fine. I have used sweeter white wines before, because that's what I had, and it's not bad (it will do in a pinch) but not as good as the pinot.

If you prefer not to use wine you could substitute a light broth like chicken or vegetable but keep in mind that the wine adds a fruitiness that broths won't.

Also note that the wine is cooked and reduced so the alcohol is cooked off so it's not like you will get drunk or even buzzed from it (but I do understand some people prefer to abstain).