Best cheat creamy sauce?

thelastnightingale

The best cream sauce is simply butter + double cream + salt + pepper. However, not very weight loss-friendly.

Has anyone had any success in making an alternative creamy sauce that doesn't have an insane amount of calories? I've been unconvinced by what Google's thrown up (complicated things involving stock and rice or milk), so thought I'd ask some real people for their ideas.

There's always a proper carbonara for a creamy texture, but I haven't made that in ages given it's only good for one portion as it doesn't keep.

I've been mostly eating tomato-based pasta sauces, which are much better calorie-wise, but the heart wants what the heart wants! (Or should that be stomach?)

acpgee

For a creamy cheese sauce, try a proper cacio pepe. It is starchy pasta water, finely grated cheese and freshly ground pepper. No other fat or cream. It is a little tricky because if it is too hot the cheese will split from the sauce and get gummy, but the failures are pretty edible. It took me 3 or 4 tries before I got this right. Versions of the recipe that contain a scant amount of butter tend to split less.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2016/nov/03/how-to-make-the-perfect-cacio-e-pepe

acpgee

Also try classic carbonara. For two people the fats are 1 tablespoon olive oil, 75g bacon, 50g grated parmesan. The creaminess comes from semi cooked egg. For two people I normally use 1 egg and 1 yolk instead of the 2 eggs and 1 yolk in the recipe below.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/may/10/how-to-cook-perfect-spaghetti-carbonara

snowflake954

What I use (live in Italy) is "Panna Chef Leggera". It's 132 cal for 100g, that's half of reg cream "Panna Chef". I've had great luck using it, especially in risottos. I don't make Carbonara because my husband doesn't eat meat--bacon or pancetta or guanciale. I see you're in England and don't know if you can buy it there, or something similar.

thelastnightingale

I can't get Panna Chef Leggera easily, but it's not impossible. Might see if some of the specialist Italian shops here import it.

Thinking about it, the ridiculously complicated recipe I saw using rice was to get at the starch, so using the starchy pasta water makes sense. I assume cacio e pepe is like carbonara in that you can only really make as much as you need, because it doesn't keep at all? Still, it looks relatively simple (once you acquire the technique, which I appreciate is going to be the hard part!) so perhaps having to make it from scratch each time won't be too much of a pain.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

acpgee

thelastnightingale wrote: »

I can't get Panna Chef Leggera easily, but it's not impossible. Might see if some of the specialist Italian shops here import it.

Thinking about it, the ridiculously complicated recipe I saw using rice was to get at the starch, so using the starchy pasta water makes sense. I assume cacio e pepe is like carbonara in that you can only really make as much as you need, because it doesn't keep at all? Still, it looks relatively simple (once you acquire the technique, which I appreciate is going to be the hard part!) so perhaps having to make it from scratch each time won't be too much of a pain.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

One more tip about the cacio pepe. I have only successfully made it in a cold bowl or pan, not the hot pan that the pasta cooked in. Every once in a while, the hubby (who is a stickler for food temperature) insists I try to make it in the hot pan the pasta cooked in. The cheese always splits when I try this. If you have someone in the house who insists on steaming hot pasta, have them pop their serving in the microwave for a minute afterwards.

Dootzy1

I make a quick gravy with a cup chicken boullion or broth, thickened with corn starch slurry. Add miso or soy sauce, a tablespoon of butter, some garlic, maybe some poultry seasoning......

BarbaraHelen2013

I’d almost always choose to have a tomato sauce with pasta but I’ve had success with using ricotta on the occasion I want something creamy instead.

A couple of days ago I made a Lemon Orzo dish which was amazing. 50g of ricotta, zest of a lemon, lemon juice from half the lemon, black pepper and chopped fresh parsley. Threw some frozen peas and some chopped dwarf beans into the pasta water for the last few mins. Drained, reserving some of the starchy water, let down the ricotta mix with the pasta water, stirred into the Orzo & greens! Was so tasty and hit the creamy comfort spot!

DancingMoosie

I've made a vegan cauliflower sauce that can be used as alfredo and my sister likes a pumpkin cheese sauce(like mac n cheese), or you can blend little sauteed yellow squash into your sauce

lilithsrose

Try making a cream cheese based sauce. I usually use light cream cheese or Neufchatel with some olive oil, parmesan and water. Its good on pasta and chicken. It tastes similar to alfredo.

This is similar to what I make, but I don't use a recipe usually. 10 Minute Cream Cheese Pasta

gallicinvasion

I second the cream cheese based sauce, but also I use this all the time and love it:


https://showmetheyummy.com/healthy-alfredo-sauce-recipe/#recipe

snowflake954

gallicinvasion wrote: »

I second the cream cheese based sauce, but also I use this all the time and love it:


https://showmetheyummy.com/healthy-alfredo-sauce-recipe/#recipe

This looks very good--will try.

acpgee

I started craving cacio e pepe so made some tonight. I deviate from the Guardian recipe by grinding pepper with the pepper mill into a pan and toasting that off in the dry pan, instead of toasting whole pepper corns which need to be ground afterwards in the food processor or spice grinder.

acpgee

I tried to reheat leftover cacio e pepe sauce that was congealed at the bottom of the pan I made it in. Heated very gently with a few tablespoons of starchy pasta water seemed to work. However, when I stirred in the hot macaronni the cheese did start to clump and separate.

ellengreen74

I always do low fat creme fraiche and parmesan when i want a creamy sauce.

skeletalplatypi

Not necessarily low-fat, but healthier fats:
I sometimes make a carbonara using avocado. It's delicious and avocados are such a great source of "good" fats.
The recommendations of traditional cacio e pepe as a replacement are also great.

doxieangie186

This is probably not as great as the one posted here but I sometimes melt a couple of slices of laughing cow cheese wedges. They get creamy and are great on pasta or zoodles.

MichelleMcKeeRN

I make a chicken and rice dish with broth, egg and lemon. It makes a nice creamy sauce.
Also, you can substitute Greek yogurt in sauces that call for sour cream. That really helps a lot.

acpgee

It's not creamy but rich with ground almonds. I can't believe something so simple can be so good. You can get away with considerably less olive oil than the recipe calls for.
https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/pesto-trapanese-recipe

acpgee

I managed to reheat leftover carbonara sauce. First picture the unappetizing dregs of the leftover sauce (mostly pancetta), straight out of the refrigerator. I boiled some macaronni, stirred in 2 tablespoons of hot starchy pasta water into the sauce, stirred in an extra egg and then the cooked macaronni.

BarbaraHelen2013

The Avocado thread has just reminded me of another silky, creamy way to eat pasta that’s especially delicious in summer but still warming and creamy in winter!

Avocado, basil and either Skyr or Greek Yoghurt. Whizz your avocado up with a large handful of fresh basil leaves, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper and enough Skyr to make a creamy sauce consistency.

Throw into your hot cooked pasta with a touch of the starchy pasta water, and some chopped cherry tomatoes and extra basil if you like. I’ve added frozen peas on occasion, or some sliced asparagus spears, (dumped in the pasta pot for the last couple of minutes).

thelastnightingale

Ooh. I've never thought to use avocado in anything other than avocado on toast!

Thanks so much to everyone for the suggestions - I've found them really helpful.

Since posting this thread, I've actually experimented with reducing some of my homemade soups into a pasta sauce. It gives a really lovely, creamy texture - it must be the effect of the starch in the blended veggies. I guess it proves that what I'm after is the texture of a cream sauce rather than the taste, which is a useful discovery on my mission of prioritising calories.

snowflake954

acpgee wrote: »

It's not creamy but rich with ground almonds. I can't believe something so simple can be so good. You can get away with considerably less olive oil than the recipe calls for.
https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/pesto-trapanese-recipe

I made this today. It was very good--thanks for the recipe.

acpgee

Here's mine on linguine. I didn't have basel in the house but I did have some mint.

acpgee

A not so decadent creamy sauce I will try tomorrow is smoked salmon carbonara. Google for recipes but for two people I plan to boil the pasta. While pasta is cooking fry off a crushed clove of garlic per person in a scant amount of butter. Remove garlic and turn off the heat on the butter in the meantime. Dice 100g of smoked salmon and beat together one egg, and one yolk Reserve a mug of starchy past water. When pasta is al dente, drain and return to pan, stirring in the egg and smoked salmon, loosening if necessary with extra pasta water.

acpgee

Though a lot recipes online use grated parmesan in salmon carbonara. Hmm. Might provide this on the table.

acpgee

MsCzar

I was in the mood for something decadent. Made my lower calorie version of Alfredo sauce tonight: I had it with fettuccine (55g dry) and cubed rotisserie chicken breast (120 g).
Total: 600 calories. Plus berry/Greek yogurt sorbet topped with granola for dessert. So filling! Total meal ~875

1/2 c/120 ml, Milk, 2% fat
0.33 cup, Parmesian cheese
1 c/240 ml(s), Chicken Broth
1 tbsp, Butter
2 tbsp, Half and half
0.50 tbsp, Olive Oil
0.50 oz, Neufchâtel Cheese
dash of white pepper
0.80 Tbsp (8g), Corn Starch dissolved in cold water


Started by sweating finely diced onion/celery/garlic in a bit of olive oil until tender. Added all the ingredients except corn starch and slowly brought to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Thicken with corn starch slurry as needed. Makes two servings: ~200 calories per.

MinTheKitCat

I’ll second cauliflower white sauces and pumpkin (although I use butternut) cheese sauces as being delicious and easy. If you like or don’t mind the taste of tofu, blending silken tofu into either of these or the cream cheese sauce is really yummy (there is a hint of the tofu taste, it doesn’t completely disappear, so don’t try if you hate the taste of tofu 🙂). Also, soaked and blended cashews make an AMAZING Alfredo, but it’s not low fat, or low cal, lol