Saffron cream sauce is one of those very special treats. Rich, savory, elegant and wonderful. It’s an easy recipe to make and brings to your table an upscale restaurant quality meal. Let’s take a look.
For a sauce recipe that comes with so many culinary credentials, it’s best virtues are that’s it’s easy to make and that the end result a rich beautiful cream sauce that will leave you feeling like a chef.
No so endearing is the fact that adding Saffron to any recipe can be expensive.
This saffron sauce and my recipe for Red Pepper Coulis, are my favorite ways to jazz up seafood.
What is Saffron?
Saffron comes from the flower of a species of crocus plant. The small amount of saffron harvested from one single plant coupled with the fact that it must be harvested manually leads to saffron’s high price tag. Threads are collected from the flower and dried and added to soups and sauces to add color and flavor. Saffron flavor has been described as sweet, floral and earthy flavor. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.
Why Saffron … Flavor, Color And Cost
- Cost: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been standing on the spice aisle with a bottle of saffron in my hand wondering if the cost really justified the flavor. Justifying the cost is a decision I’ll leave up to you, but those delicate little strands of saffron do seem magical.
- Flavor: Will saffron really add that much of a flavor difference to my recipe? Saffron adds a floral, honeyed, earthy flavor to any mild flavored dish. Not to mention a vivid golden hue. The color and a nuance of flavor is hard to describe.
- Cost: You can expect to pay about $10 per gram. So why is it so pricey? It’s an incredibly labor-intensive crop to harvest. Each saffron flower only produces three threads, so it can take thousands of flowers to produce one ounce of threads. Those threads are also very delicate, so must be harvested by hand, in early morning hours to avoid damage from the sun.
To make this saffron cream sauce for seafood, we’ll only be using a pinch. Combined with cream the end result is a rich, savory, elegant experience. Dragging each shrimp and each bite of asparagus through the sauce is a delightful experience.
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Chicken Broth
- Butter
- Saffron
- White Pepper: Try White Pepper for this recipe. Not only does the color blend for a more attractive end result. White Pepper has a unique flavor, it’s spicy and sometimes referred to as grassy. It’s commonly used in French cuisine.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Broth: Substitute vegetable broth in place of Chicken broth.
- Pepper: If you don’t have white pepper, use black pepper.
- Shallot: Sweet onion is a good substitute for shallot.
Step By Step Instructions, It’s Easy
- Step 1: In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once the bubbles subside, add the shallots and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes.
- Step 2: Add the heavy cream, chicken stock and undrained bloomed saffron, and bring just to a boil. Simmer over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes. Strain sauce, using a fine sieve and serve.
FAQ’s
This is simply not the time to worry about fat calories. The high ratio of milk fat in heavy whipping cream is needed for a thick and luxurious sauce. Half and Half and worse yet, milk, simply won’t accomplish that. And if cooked at a high heat, both products will separate and ruin the recipe. Stick with heavy cream.
Saffron is most commonly known as being used in seafood dishes such as Paella and Bouillabaisse.
Transfer cooled sauce to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 days. I’m not a fan of freezing cream sauces, as it seems the texture is compromised.
Avoid reheating any cream sauce in the microwave. It will cause the sauce to separate or become oily. A small sauce pan works best. Place it in a small saucepan over low heat and slowly bring to a simmer. Be careful with it, no need to boil it to a roiling boil, it could compromise the creamy texture.
Tips
- Bloom the saffron threads before cooking, doing so will extract its trademark flavor and color into the sauce.
- Don’t skip straining the sauce through a sieve before serving. We did this for every sauce we made in Culinary School. Even if there weren’t any particles like cooked shallots. It simply makes any sauce creamier and silkier.
- Poach the shrimp in ale or beer. Simply using beer rather than water adds a nice flavor zing.
Ways To Use This Sauce
I chose to place cooked shrimp and asparagus in a shallow bowl that contained a ladle of the sauce. Here’s some more ideas.
- Drizzle saffron cream sauce over seared scallops and steamed broccoli.
- Saffron sauce is such a delicate elegant piece of work, I simply don’t think serving it over grilled chicken would be it’s best moment. Perhaps chicken breast cutlets that have been pounded thin, lightly sauteed in a neutral oil and seasoned with a little garlic, salt and pepper. Let the sauce be the hero here.
- Saffron Sauce for Pasta: Toss this sauce with the pasta shape of your choice. Pappardelle would be a good choice here. Then garnish with chopped fresh parsley and some grated Parmesan Cheese.
- Drizzle the sauce over the ravioli of your choice. Cheese ravioli or even Lobster ravioli would work well. Again, grated parmesan cheese would be great on top.
- Saffron sauce for Fish: A drizzle would be delightful over oven baked Halibut.
What To Serve It With
No matter how you use this sauce, make it a meal and served it with a simple tossed salad dressed with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing or a lighter vinaigrette like this Red Wine Vinegar Dressing.
This is a thin sauce. If using saffron cream sauce for pasta, make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Towards the end of cooking, remove 2 tablespoons of the sauce, and mix it with two tablespoons of cornstarch. Use a fork to combine into a paste and add back to the sauce. Bubble until sauce has thickened. A thicker sauce will be better for a creamy pasta dish.
Recipe for Saffron Cream Sauce
We savored every special bite if this shrimp in Saffron Cream Sauce. Talk about the perfect date night meal. You may want to consider this one for Valentine’s Day.
I hope you give this recipe a try.
More Sauce Recipes To Add To Your Repertoire
And if you’re looking for more Shrimp recipes, don’t miss my Seafood Category. You’ll find lots of great recipes, including the most popular seafood recipe on my site for Spicy and Creamy Shrimp Pasta.
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Saffron Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- Pinch of saffron threads
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 large shallot peeled and fine chopped
- 1 Cup heavy cream
- 1 Cup Chicken Broth
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon White pepper
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch Only if you want a thicker sauce
Instructions
- Soak the threads of saffron in 1 tablespoon of water for 10 minutes. This is called blooming and will add extract it's signature flavor and color into the water.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the bubbles subside, add the shallots and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream, chicken stock and undrained bloomed saffron, and bring just to a boil. Lower heat and simmer over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a small saucepan and season with the salt and white pepper. Keep the saffron sauce warm over low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Spoon the saffron sauce into shallow bowls, top with cooked asparagus and poached shrimp and serve.
- If you want a thicker saffron cream sauce to use for pasta, mix three tablespoons of the sauce and two tablespoons cornstarch. Mix well and return to sauce at the end of cooking. Bubble until the sauce thickens.
Notes
- Drizzle saffron cream sauce over seared scallops and steamed broccoli.
- Toss this sauce with the pasta shape of your choice. Pappardelle would be a good choice here. Then garnish with chopped fresh parsley and some grated Parmesan Cheese.
- Drizzle the sauce over the ravioli of your choice. Cheese ravioli or even Lobster ravioli would work well. Again, grated parmesan cheese would be great on top.
Nutrition
Saffron Cream Sauce …It’s what’s for a Special Seafood Dinner.
