A delicious and simple roasted garlic cream sauce that pairs perfectly with chicken & pasta for a weeknight dish the whole family will love!
If you’ve never had roasted garlic before- brace yourself. You may never go back to sautéing it again. Roasting garlic takes any bitter taste from the cloves and replaces it with a smooth & creamy flavor that is unmatched by any other form of cooking it (in my opinion). I usually roast two heads of garlic when I make this, so that I can snack on the extra. That’s right, roasting garlic makes it that mild. You can pop the cloves straight into your mouth with zero regret. Anyways, this roasted garlic cream sauce includes chicken stock & parmesan cheese to elevate the depth of flavor. You can omit the chicken if you just want to make the sauce- but I like it with some protein.
I made fresh pasta for this dish, check out my Fresh Pasta Tutorial to see how easy & fun it is!
If you’re not going to make fresh pasta, I recommend Colavita Pappardelle Nests. They’re my absolute favorite store bought pasta.
How do I roast garlic?
Preheat your oven to 400 F. As shown in the pictures below, cut the top off of the head of garlic to expose the cloves. Drizzle some olive oil over top, with salt & pepper. Wrap in foil. Cook for 30 minutes, and check in on it. After that, check on it every ten minutes so it does not burn. Remove from the oven when it looks like the second picture.
Everything you need to make this roasted garlic cream sauce:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 head of garlic – or more if you’d like
- 2 cups of sliced mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1 cup chicken stock- low sodium
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 chicken breasts- however much you want, really
- 1 lb pasta of choice
- salt & pepper for seasoning chicken
Let’s make some dinner!
Prep the garlic as stated above & pop it in to roast. Be sure to set your timers so you don’t lose track of time. While the garlic is roasting, either slice your chicken thin or beat it thin. Season generously with salt & pepper. Warm a pan over medium high heat, and add the olive oil. Sear the chicken to golden brown on both sides and cook through. Remove from pan.
Lower the heat to medium, and add the mushrooms. Cook them down to half their original size.
Once the mushrooms are cooked down, add in the butter. Whisk the flour in, and make sure the mushrooms are coated evenly as shown below.
Whisk in the chicken stock, heavy cream, and parsley. The garlic should be done at this point. Squeeze the cloves into the sauce and “mash” them up a bit with your stirring utensil. At this stage, put on your pasta water. Be sure to salt your pasta water! Unsalted pasta water is unhappy pasta water. Cook the sauce until it thickens, and turn heat to low. Whisk in the grated parm right before the pasta is added.
Once the pasta is cooked al dente, add it to the sauce. Coat the pasta in the sauce well- the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce and absorb all of those beautiful flavors. Nestle the chicken back into the pan with the pasta to heat back up and marry the flavors (they want to be together forever, this isn’t just a fling).
Serve with additional grated parmesan & enjoy! I like to have one of my Low Cal Vodka Spritzers with this dish.
Love this dish? Pin it below!
Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1/2 cup parmesan grated
- 4 chicken breasts optional
- 1 lb pasta of choice long shapes work best here
- salt & pepper for seasoning chicken
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut the top of the head of garlic off to expose a portion of each clove. Place in foil, with 1 tsp olive oil and a dash of salt & pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, and check every ten minutes after until the cloves are a deep brown but not burnt.
- While the garlic is roasting, warm a pan over medium high heat and add olive oil for cooking the chicken (skip this step if you're not cooking chicken).
- Make sure the chicken breasts are either sliced thin or beat thin. Season with salt and pepper. Sear the chicken to a deep golden brown and remove from pan.
- Turn the heat down to medium, and add the mushrooms to the same pan. You may need to add more olive oil if the mushrooms are sticking. Cook the mushrooms down to half their original size.
- Add the butter, and whisk in the flour. Make sure all of the mushrooms are coated with flour. Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, parsley, and squeeze in the garlic cloves (the garlic cloves will slide out of their casing once they are roasted).
- At this stage, put on your pasta water.
- Continue to whisk & stir the sauce until it thickens slightly. Turn heat to low once the sauce has thickened. Cook pasta to al dente. Right before you add the pasta to the sauce, whisk in the cheese. Add the pasta over low heat and coat completely.
- Nestle the chicken into the pan to heat back up & coat in sauce.
- Serve with more grated parm, and enjoy!
