Pesto Cream Sauce (Fresh Ravioli's New BFF)

I know I usually start many of my posts explaining how simple a recipe is. Well...guess what? This is another ridiculously easy recipe. In fact, I've written this recipe with two different methods: The first is my favorite; straight up heating all the ingredients until thick. The second is the bechamel method. It's a little more advanced, but this method is lower in fat, and is very handy for those times you don't have heavy cream on hand. Heck....there's technically a third method of heating half and half until thickened, but I personally prefer cutting heavy cream myself. (...Call it a minor control issue....)

Huge suggestion: Find yourself some sundried tomato pesto. It's awesome. Or just add sundried tomatoes or whatever other add-in you want to the sauce. And if you're using fresh ravioli with this sauce,  you can go ahead and heat the ravioli in the sauce as it thickens; just be sure to stir occasionally so that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the skillet.

As a side note, I did not add "Prep Time" or "Total Time" indications, since prep time would basically be about a minute or two for mise en place (putting things in place). 

Backstory: This is one of those recipes that came in the form of a cartoon-y light bulb above my head while browsing a menu at a local pizza restaurant; "a four cheese tortellini in a creamy pesto sauce". I thought of the refrigerated ravioli in the fridge and the unopened bottle of sundried tomato pesto in the cupboard just begging to be used. I knew instantly I would try making a "creamy pesto sauce" for dinner; alas, I had a harder time figuring out what to order for lunch!

Pesto Cream Sauce

Cook: 5-8 minutes Makes: about 2 1/2 cups

Equipment:
large skillet

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream ½ cup milk, plus more as needed 3 Tbsp pesto

Method:

1. Pour ingredients into a large skillet. On medium heat, cook heavy cream, milk, and pesto in a large skillet, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened. If needed, add more milk to thin sauce, or more heavy cream to thicken sauce. Serve with pasta or other desired dish.

Pesto Cream Sauce made with Sundried Tomato Pesto

Creamy Pesto Sauce  
Cook: 5 minutes Makes: About 1 1/2 cups

Equipment:
small pot or skillet, whisk
 

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp	butter
2 Tbsp	flour
1 ½  cups	milk
3 Tbsp	pesto

Method:

1. Melt butter in a small pot or skillet on medium heat.

2. Once butter is completely melted, whisk in flour until well combined. (As in, flour has absorbed all the butter, in a matter of 5-10 seconds.)

3. Pour in milk all at once. Briskly whisk mixture until smooth. Keeping the heat level at medium, allow mixture to cook until thickened. Once thickened, turn off heat and stir in pesto until well combined. If sauce is too thick, stir in more milk. If sauce is too thin, allow sauce to simmer a few minutes or as needed. Serve finished sauce immediately with pasta or other desired dish.