Cooking a tomato-cream sauce ahead......
I am making The Pioneer Woman's Penne a la Betsy tonight. It is basically a tomato cream sauce with chopped shrimp. I would like to prepare the sauce before our guests arrived except for the addition of the shrimp. Would it be okay to keep it simmering on low for approximately 45 minutes? The last step is to add the chopped shrimp and herbs so I thought I would do this right before I was set to serve. I just do not want to have to be at the stove while company is here.
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Update: So I made it ahead up to the addition of the cream. I then placed it in the refrigerator. When I put the pasta in to cook, I poured the sauce into a large saute pan om med-low. When the pasta was halfway down, I added the chopped shrimp to heat through. It was perfect! Thank you again for all your help. We had a lovely dinner.
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You also might consider making the tomato sauce in a large saute pan and just leave it on the stove with no heat. Then warm it up, add the cream when the penne is half cooked, then add the shrimp followed by the pasta when it is just al dente. Finish it in the sauce for a minute or two so it can absorb the flavor of the sauce, adding a little of the hot pasta water to get just the right thickness...it will thicken a little after you take it off the heat.
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I don't think there would be a problem making it ahead, but simmering for 45 minutes (unless the recipe tells you to do that) could leave you with a very reduced sauce and with the cream a scorched bottom is also possible....at least on my stove. Maybe a double boiler of sorts would do the trick, keep it warm but no to much.
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re: magiesmom
hotoynoodle
Dec 30, 2011 11:48 AM
plus one on this. a cream sauce simmering for a long time is a bad idea.
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