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).

Click here to see how to make a white whine sauce and my Shrimp Scampi recipe. 

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Very Veggie Pasta

A fresh and simple vegetarian pasta sauce, made with onions, zucchini, eggplant, red bell pepper and tomatoes, served over pasta.

A standby recipe for me is always pasta.  I try to keep some type of pasta in the pantry then all I need is a sauce.  This time instead of the usual tomato sauce I wanted to feel healthy by adding more vegetables.  Sausage would work well with this recipe, but I didn't have any so I kept it vegetarian.

Very Veggie Pasta

Ingredients:

1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 large zucchini, peeled and diced
2 small Asian eggplants, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3-4 tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp dried basil
a few shakes or dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan
baisil

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat then add the onions.  Cook until soft and translucent then add the garlic, cooking, until fragrant.  Add a little salt and pepper to taste (and with each new ingredient addition)

Then add the zucchini, eggplant, pepper, tomatoes, and dried spices.   Cover and reduce heat to low.  Let cook for at least 1 hour until all vegetables are soft.  Taste and add additional seasoning as needed.

Spoon over cooked pasta of your choice and top with Parmesan and torn fresh basil.

Makes 2 servings

Enjoy.

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