Blush Sauce
A creamy and delicious light tomato sauce that is so easy to make but tastes like restaurant quality. Before making this I had to do some extensive googling to find out the difference between a Blush Sauce and a Vodka Sauce. It turns out, there isn’t much of a difference. They both use some type of alcohol, tomatoes, cream, onion, garlic, and parmesan cheese.
The alcohol in both sauces acts as an binder which helps the fat stick to the acidic tomato sauce. It also creates the most delicious aroma in your house. I highly recommend the addition of the alcohol. 60% cooks out, and it absolutely will not get you drunk. This blush sauce recipe is a hit in our house! You can use this sauce on spaghetti, tortellini, penne, or speciality shape pasta like I did here.
I have made this dish two ways. One was just a simple sauce for penne, and one is bit more jazzed up and includes mini mozzarella balls and heart shaped pasta. I made the heart shaped pasta for my valentine’s day meal, but I use the penne pasta the other 364 days of the year.
What is in a Blush Sauce?
Butter, Tomato Sauce, Onion, Garlic, White Wine, Tomato Paste, Half and Half, Grated Parmesan Cheese, and a little Hot Honey (but you can use just a tad of red pepper flakes and a tsp of sugar instead)
What is Blush Sauce?
Blush Sauce, also called Rose sauce, is a pasta sauce made with alcohol, butter, tomatoes, cream, onion, garlic, and parmesan cheese.
I actually set out to make a vodka sauce today, but I only had tequila and white wine in the house, so this is how I ended up making this recipe. I can literally drink this sauce. It is delicious! Also, I used canned tomato sauce, because I knew it would save me the step of blending my sauce, but you can use canned whole tomatoes if that is all you have. You will just have to put this sauce in blender afterwards.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1/2 Vidalia Onion diced
- 3 Garlic Cloves minced
- 28 oz Tomato Sauce smooth, no chunks
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1/3 cup White Wine dry(or tequila)
- 1 cup Half and Half
- 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Mini Fresh Mozzarella Balls
- 1 tsp Hot Honey (optional)
How to Make a Blush Sauce
- melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. once it starts to sizzle add the onion and garlic.
- once the garlic and onion are starting to brown, add the tomato sauce and white wine and then cook for 5-7 minutes(uncovered) stirring frequently.
- add the tomato paste and hot honey, and stir until incorporated. cover the pan slightly and cook on a low heat for 20 minutes.
- add the half and half and grated parmesan. mix and taste. add some black pepper or a touch of salt if needed.
Valentine’s Day Meal Idea
This delicious sauce is pink, so it makes an adorable Valentine’s Day meal. I combined this sauce with heart shaped pasta and creamy mini fresh mozzarella balls! My valentine loved this meal and loved it even more because she got to bring it to lunch the next day too!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
Dairy Free Creamy Tomato Sauce
Tomato and Grilled Cheese Soup
Blush Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1/2 Vidalia Onion diced very small
- 3 Garlic Cloves minced
- 28 oz Tomato Sauce smooth, no chunks
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1/3 cup Dry White Wine I’ve also used white tequila and it came out great
- 1 cup Half and Half
- 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 tsp Hot Honey optional
- Mini Mozzarella Balls optional
- 1 lb Pasta
Instructions
- melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. once it starts to sizzle add the onion and garlic.
- once the garlic and onion are starting to brown, add the tomato sauce and white wine and then cook for 5-7 minutes(uncovered) stirring frequently.
- add the tomato paste and optional hot honey, and stir until incorporated. cover the pan slightly and cook on a low heat for 20 minutes.
- add the grated parmesan. at this point, I like to use an immersion blender or food processor to make the sauce very smooth, but this is purely preference.
- After blending add the half and half. Taste and add a touch more of salt or black pepper if needed.
- If you are using the mini Mozzarella Balls, you want to add them when you are ready to serve the dish.
Must try this. I love vodka sauce but rarely get to have it. This sounds similar. And who doesn’t love pasta?
That pasta is so adorable! And the sauce sounds amazing. Perfect recipe for Valentine’s day!