Basil Sauce With Cream

This basil sauce with cream is an easy, versatile sauce that’s ready in 20 minutes. It’s a delicious way to dress up fish, seafood, or chicken. This recipe comes from the Park Hotel Kenmare, Ireland.

We only manage it eat fish a few times a month. Getting good quality, sustainably raised, wild fish comes at a price. Fortunately, Trader Joe’s, and Costco both carry wild-caught fish, so sometimes I’ll pick up a package of filets to keep in the freezer for a weeknight meal. I’ll defrost the filets in the fridge in the morning so they’re ready for poaching, grilling or baking.

Ingredients for basil sauce recipe

The recipe calls for fish stock, which is available with all the other stock in most grocery stores. If you can’t find fish stock, use bottled clam juice with water. Clam juice is great to have on hand for Clam Chowder and Cioppino, a San Francisco staple.

• 2 ounces unsalted butter
• 6 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chiffonade.
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups fish stock or 1 1/3 cups bottled clam juice and 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt or  kosher salt

Store any leftover sauce in glass jars or in an airtight container in the fridge.

How to make basil sauce

Fish stock, cream, butter, wine and basil make an elegant sauce for fish or fowl! The sauce is a series of reductions. First you’ll reduce the wine by half, then you’ll reduce the stock by half, and then the cream. What results is a rich, but sublime sauce. If you’re in a hurry, use a larger skillet, which has more surface space than a sauce pan, thus speeding up the reduction time by about half! 

• Melt butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. (Using a sauce pan will take longer to reduce.)
• Add basil and stir until wilted, about 1 minute.
• Add wine, increase heat and boil until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. 
• Add stock and boil 3 minutes.
• Add cream, white and black pepper and salt.

This sauce would also be delicious with Roast Chicken or Pan-Seared Scallops.

How to poach salmon

Start with the basil sauce which takes about 20 minutes. While it’s reducing, prep the rest of the meal. The salmon takes about 15 minutes from start to finish, depending on the cooking method.

This is an easy way to poach salmon. Sometimes I use a  cast iron skillet, just because often easier than getting out a sheet-pan, or heating up the BBQ. You could prepare the fish any way you like it, baked, grilled, or poached in the oven as I do. 

• 4 wild-caught salmon filets (approximately 4-5 ounces each)
• 1/4 cup liquid (lemon juice, fish stock, or dry white wine)
• Kosher salt and black pepper

To prepare the oven poach the salmon, place filets in a large heat-proof pan or iron skillet, sprinkle with lemon juice, wine, or more fish stock, and bake for approximately 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Other types of basil sauce

Basil is one of my favorite herbs, so I cook with it a lot! Of course the most famous basil sauce is Basil Pesto Sauce!

French Pistou is similar to traditional pesto but without the parmesan cheese and pine nuts. 

Love basil? Check out these other basil-centric recipes.

If you have a basil plant or two, you probably have lots of fresh basil in the summer. While you can never have too much basil, here are some dishes that that use lots!

Homemade pesto is delicious in this Quinoa Salad, or drizzled on Tomato Pesto Pizza.

 Caprese Pasta Salad with grape tomatoes and mozzarella.

Basil Sauce with Cream

Cynthia

The sauce will make enough of for 4-6 salmon filets or chicken breasts. Recipe from Bon Appetit, circa 1992, originally from the Park Hotel Kenmare, in County Kerry.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Entree

Cuisine British

Servings 6 servings

Calories 227 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 ounces unsalted butter
• 6 Tablespoons fresh basil minced
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups fish stock or 1 1/3 cups bottled clam juice and 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

 

• Melt butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. (Using a sauce pan will take longer to reduce.)
• Add basil and stir until wilted, about 1 minute.
• Add wine, increase heat and boil until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. (see cooking notes)
• Add stock and boil 3 minutes.
• Add cream, white and black pepper and salt.
• Boil until sauce is reduced to 3/4, about 8-10 minutes.

Notes

Although the sauce doesn’t have a “fishy” taste, you could substitute chicken broth with fairly similar results if you don’t have fish stock on hand.

No fish stock? Use 1 1/3 cups bottled clam juice and 2/3 cup water.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 227kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 3gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 372mgPotassium: 115mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 928IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 57mgIron: 1mg

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