How to Make a Tarragon Cream Sauce with Tomatoes
The other day we found pick up some lobster ravioli at Di Bruno Brothers Italian Market in our local Farmer’s Market. We’ve had them before and they are amazing. Pricey but tasty.
We needed a sauce to go with them so my wife did a little search online and found one that we adapted to work for our personal tastes. This is a very simple sauce to prepare at home but takes time to prep. Cutting 2 pints of grape tomatoes in half is easy but time consuming so if you can get your spouse or kids to help, it will help get dinner on the table sooner.
The recipe suggested adding shrimp to the sauce which we did because we had them in the freezer. They are not necessary but are a nice accompaniment.
Other Ways to Serve This Sauce
Not only is this sauce perfect for lobster ravioli, it would work tremendously well with other ingredients. If you didn’t have any ravioli but just a bag of shrimp in the freezer, you could make this sauce and serve it with a pasta or rice.
Tarragon and chicken also work extremely well together so you could serve this on top of a pan sauteed chicken breasts. I could also see it being served with any roasted white fish like sea bass or flounder.
How about tarragon cream sauce with roasted vegetables? Or on top of a grilled steak or roasted pork loin?
And do adapt it with some of your own favorite ingredients. A tablespoon of Dijon mustard would really give this sauce some extra flavor. We used creme fraiche in this recipe but you could substitute sour cream or cream or half and half.
Have fun with this basic sauce and come up with something special of your own.
Tomato Tarragon Cream Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot minced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pints grape tomatoes we used red and yellow, cut in half lenghtwise
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons crème fraiche
- 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat up a saucepan or saute pan large enough to hold all the tomatoes over medium heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons of the butter and let it melt.
- Add the shallot and cook for a couple of minutes and then add the garlic. Stir and cook for another minute or two until the garlic becomes fragrant but do not let it burn.
- Add the tomatoes, season with a little salt and pepper, stir and cook until the tomatoes start to soften. This can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on you stove. If they break down more than you expect, don't fear, they will still be great in the sauce.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan with the creme fraiche and the chopped tarragon leaves. Stir to combine and cook for a minute or two.
- Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Notes
Sounds simple and good–but I have a question: is it tablespoons or cups? The recipe says “3 tablespoons cups crème fraiche”–surely tablespoons, right?
Hi Hope, yes 3 tablespoons. Thanks for catching that mistake.