Creamy Tomato Pesto Sauce (for lamb, chicken, or pasta)

Phenomenal. That’s what this sauce is. Allow me to brag a little bit on this one, because I knocked it out of the park. I enjoyed making and eating this sauce more than I can say. Usually, I serve lamb chops over greens or rice, but tonight Josh asked me if I could make a sauce. The result was a sauce that tasted like 5 star restaurant quality, but was really very simple to prepare!

You can guess by my addition of pesto that it was Italian inspired. So much of my cooking in the past has been inspired by Asian or Indian cuisine. I’m very familiar with curries! But this year has been a journey into more savory foods for me, and this sauce certainly exemplifies that.

I served this sauce over marinated lamb shoulder chops, but I also think it would be delicious over roasted chicken pieces or pasta. For pasta, I would add way more pesto though and dilute it a bit with tomato juice or water and also add sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts. But for the chicken, I would leave it as is.

I didn’t measure any of the ingredients for the marinade, so I’ve just listed them below. You could use this marinade on both lamb and chicken. Leave a comment if you have any questions!

Enjoy!
~Courtney

Marinade

Lemon juice
Rosemary
Minced garlic
Whole dijon mustard

Creamy Tomato Pesto Sauce (for lamb, chicken, or pasta)

Makes 2 cups of sauce

6 TBSP butter
1/4 cup onion, minced
6 cloves garlic, crushed & minced
8 white mushrooms, minced
8 oz. diced tomatoes
1/2-3/4 cup cream
2 TBSP basil pesto (use my delicious recipe)
3/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
8 fresh basil leaves, minced
Ground black pepper
Ground white pepper

In a saucier pan (I use this one), melt the butter on med-low. On my gas stove, this is about a 3-4. You want it to melt but not burn. Next, add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms. All three of these items should be minced to the same size.

Sauté onion, garlic, and mushrooms for 5 minutes on medium, or until onion is soft and garlic is beginning to brown. Then, add the diced tomatoes and simmer for 5 more minutes. Reduce heat to LOW. Make sure the sauce has stopped bubbling. Then add the cream. Stir to combine. Increase the heat a little bit so that it’s bubbling VEEEERRRRRYYYYY slowly, but not boiling. You don’t want the cream to curdle, so it’s got to be heated slowly.

Stir in the pesto and simmer slowly for 3 minutes, then stir in the fresh herbs and pepper, cover and turn heat down to the lowest setting. Stir occasionally and leave on low until ready to serve. If you want the sauce less thick, add 1 or 2 TBSP of filtered water to dilute. Spoon over lamb or chicken generously.