Garlic Parmesan Sauce

Sauces are important, they add that flavor and moisture component, they bring the dish together. Pasta is always better with a sauce, either red or white. The heart of mac and cheese is, well, a cheese sauce. When it comes to sauces, there are so many options. I love cheese, and of all the cheeses, I think parmesan is the richest, so this post is about garlic parmesan sauce. It’s thick, cheesy, garlicky and oh, so delicious.

Sauces come in so many varieties, spicy, sweet, tangy, savory, as part of the cooking process, or as a garnish after serving. The word sauce is from the Latin word salsa, meaning salted. It was a fish sauce. And if the romans had a name for it, well, they must have used it. There is mention of sauces in roman cookbooks. However, centuries before, the Chinese had soy sauce that they cooked with.

Some of the earliest sauces were actually gravy. Thickening the liquid from a stew. Gravy and sauce are very closely related, the same process can be used for both. Although a gravy is usually derived from the juices when cooking meat. Sauces, can be made separately and added to the dish, like mushroom chicken with parmesan sauce. They can be made in the pan while cooking, shrimp scampi is and example, that would be called a pan sauce.

In contemporary cooking the French style is very popular, and sauce making is no exception. In French cooking there are five “mother” sauces, and the base for this sauce is one of them, the Béchamel sauce, I call it a roux. Check my post thickening for soups and stews there’s some good stuff in there. The Béchamel sauce is simple in it’s ingredients, however does require some work, think lots of whisking. In this application whisking is better than stirring, a whisk mixes better. Equal quantities of flour and fat cooked over low heat. That is the base. Then the chicken stock is added, then the cheese to make a thick garlic parmesan sauce.

To get the garlic flavor to permeate the entire sauce, it needs to be added at the beginning of the cooking process. The fat in the case of this recipe is butter, so the garlic gets chopped fine and sautéed in the butter for a few minutes over med heat before the flour gets added. This is just to soften the garlic, not caramelize it. If you don’t want little bits of sweet delicious garlic in your sauce, well there is a solution. Add approximately 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder after adding the chicken stock. When the flour is added the whisking begins, making sure it mixes well with the butter, doesn’t clump or burn. It will need to cook at least 5 mins. If the flour isn’t cooked properly it will have a grainy taste.

When the roux base is cooked, slowly add the chicken stock while whisking. I say slowly because the liquid gets absorbed very quickly. So whisk constantly while adding, this will mix everything well, and prevent clumping. Now turn up the heat, continue to whisk, add seasonings, as the sauce heats up it will thicken. When it starts to bubble, remove from the heat. Now add the cheese and stir to mix and melt.

That’s it, garlic parmesan sauce. This is such a versatile sauce, has so many applications, feel free to try it with anything. Enjoy your meal and thank you for reading