Best Basic Butter Sauce Recipes

BASIC RAVIOLI WITH A BUTTER-SAGE SAUCE

Steps:

• For the filling: Add the ricotta, Parmigiano and eggs and sprinkle with salt in a bowl. Adjust seasoning if needed. Put the filling in a pastry bag and reserve.
• For the pasta: Set the pasta roller on the widest setting (#1). Start with half the pasta dough; keep the other half covered until ready to use. Using your hands, flatten the dough as much as you can to facilitate it going through the pasta roller. Run the dough through the roller, twice dusting it in between rolls if it feels sticky. Fold the dough into thirds and turn it 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and run it through the pasta machine 2 to 3 times. Move the roller to the next setting (#2) and run the pasta through. Dust lightly with flour if the dough feels sticky. Continue to run the dough through the machine reducing the opening (or moving the setting to the next larger number) in between every roll. Stop when you get to the correct thinness, this will usually be around number 5 or 6 on the dial, but every machine is different, you will have to be the judge of your own pasta thickness.
• To assemble the ravioli: Lay out the dough on a flat surface. Brush the lower half of the dough (the part that is closest to you) lightly with water. This is the glue that will hold the ravioli together. Use the glue sparingly, if you use too much the pasta will slide and not stick. Pipe 1-inch balls of filling onto the pasta that has been brushed with water, leaving about 2 inches between each ball. Fold the top half of the pasta down over the filling to meet the bottom edge. Using your index fingers, poke around each filling ball to seal the ravioli shut, AND to make sure that there are no air bubbles. Using a fluted round cutter or a fluted pastry wheel or even a drinking glass, cut out each ravioli. Transfer to a sheet tray dusted with semolina or polenta and reserve until ready to use.
• To cook the ravioli and make the sauce: Add the butter to a large saute pan and bring to a medium heat. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and season with salt. Shake the pan to incorporate the butter and stock, and simmer until the stock has reduced a bit and the sauce looks velvety and is the consistency of heavy cream. If the sauce thickens too much, adjust the consistency with chicken stock. Add the sage and season with salt.
• Add the ravioli to the pot of boiling water and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully remove the ravioli from the cooking water and put them immediately into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil, shaking frequently to be sure that the ravioli don'(TM)t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Transfer the ravioli to a serving platter. Mangia Bene!
• Put the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a hole (this is also called a well) in the center of the flour pile that is about 8 inches wide (bigger is definitely better here). Crack all of the eggs and the yolk into the hole and add the olive oil, salt and water.
• Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, salt and water. Using the fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture; be careful not to break the sides of the well or the egg mixture will run all over your board and you will have a big mess! Also, don't worry about the lumps. When enough flour has been incorporated into the egg mixture that it will not run all over the place when the sides of the well are broken, begin to use your hands to really get everything well combined. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands and begin kneading with wet hands. When the mixture has really come together to a homogeneous mixture, THEN you can start kneading.
• When kneading it is VERY important to put your body weight into it, get on top of the dough to really stretch it and not tear the dough. Using the heels of your palms, roll the dough to create a very smooooooth, supple dough. When done, the dough should look VERY smooth and feel almost velvety. Kneading will usually take from 8 to 10 minutes for an experienced kneader and 10 to 15 for an inexperienced kneader. Put your body weight into it, you need to knead! This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and have fun!
• When the pasta has been kneaded to the perfect consistency, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least 1 hour. If using immediately do not refrigerate.
• Roll and cut the pasta into desired shape. How smooth and supple!

LOW FAT BASIC WHITE SAUCE (WITHOUT BUTTER)

Steps:

• Pour stock into a small saucepan and heat; once hot add cornflour and stir constantly to cook flour, it will be very thick, yellowy & clear.
• Off stove add the milk, very slowly stirring until smooth; this is where I need the blender to get the lumps out.
• Put back on medium heat, add the extra stock and continue stirring until it thickens; add the onion powder, herbs, pepper and salt.
• You may need more stock or skim milk, when I made this tonight, on heating it up after it had cooled it became thicker and needed to be thinned a little.

BASIC BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. Put the shallots, water, and thyme in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook at a low boil until the shallots are very soft and the water has reduced to a generous 1/4 cup. 2. Remove the thyme and turn the heat to very low. Use an immersion blender to start pureeing the shallots. Add a piece of butter and continue to puree, emulsifying the water and butter. Continue adding the butter piece by piece, incorporating each bit of butter before adding another. Tilt the pan as you work and keep it over the heat. The sauce will become light and very pale yellow. 3. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pushing down on any solids that remain with a wooden spoon. Return the sauce to the pan. Season with salt. 4. You can serve the sauce right away or keep it warm at the back of the stove for an hour or so, giving it a whisk once in a while. Add a few drops of water if the sauce becomes too thick. 5. Store any leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator. To rejuvenate leftover sauce, put it in a saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. The sauce will break (separate) at this point. Don't worry. Reduce the heat to low and re-emulsify the sauce with the immersion blender.