Saffron Sauce

Fork being twirled in grey bowl of fettuccine pasta.

5 from 1 vote

Saffron Sauce is a quick and easy homemade sauce reminiscent of fine dining restaurants! Very versatile it works with a variety of dishes.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: saffron fettucccine, saffron sauce, saffron sauce for pasta

Servings:

Calories: 1075kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Saffron Sauce

½ teaspoon saffron threads Note 1
1 tablespoon boiling water to activate the saffron threads, Note 2
60 grams butter unsalted, Note 3
1 tbs garlic chunky, minced
2 teaspoon dried chives
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoon plain flour
2 cups/500ml chicken stock
1 cup/250ml cream

Pasta

500 grams/16 oz fettuccine
½ cup/125 ml reserved pasta water Note 4
200 grams/7 oz streaky bacon Note 5
⅓ cup parsely finely chopped

Garnish (optional):

black pepper
pecorino romano
parsley finely chopped

Instructions

Bacon: place a large frying pan on the stove, turn the heat to high and add the streaky bacon. Cook for 4-5 minutes then use kitchen tongs to transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Once cooled, used kitchen scissors to chop the bacon into small pieces.
Saffron threads: add the saffron threads to a small bowl and pour in 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Note 2
Butter: place a large frying pan on the stove and turn the heat to high. Add the butter and let it melt. Then add the garlic, dried chives and salt and let them cook for 1 minute.
Cream sauce: Turn the heat to low and add the chicken stock, cream and saffron threads (with water). Turn the heat back up and whisk until the sauce is consistently combined.
Pasta: place a medium sauce pan on the stove top, fill it with water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Read and follow the instructions on the pasta packet to cook the pasta. Moments before it is al dente, use a heatproof jug to scoop out 1 to 2 cups of the pasta water. Then use a colander over the sink to drain the remaining water. Note 5
Pasta and sauce: add the cooked drained pasta to the saffron sauce and pour in ½ cup of the reserved pasta water. Add the chopped bacon pieces and parsley then use kitchen tongs to toss the pasta through the sauce.
Garnish: to serve the dish grate some pecorino romano over the top of the dish and sprinkle some black pepper on top also. Provide bowls, forks and spoons for serving.

Notes

Note 1 - Saffron: you will find this in the cooking aisle at your local grocery store with the herbs, stocks and spices. It will be in a very small bottle or plastic container. The colour of saffron is bright red yet it offers an unmistakeable bright yellow colour to dishes.
Note 2 - Boiling water: if you try and pour boiling water into a small tablespoon there is a high change of you splashing boiling water back up at yourself or pouring it over your hand. Instead of doing this, boil the kettle and once boiled pour some of that water into a heatproof jug and then take your tablespoon and dip it in there to get the 1 tablespoon needed.
Note 3 - Butter: if you want to use salted butter, then omit adding separate salt when sauteing the garlic.
Note 4 - Streaky Bacon: In Australia the smallest packet of streaky bacon is 200 grams costing around $6 or $7. In the USA the smallest packet is 12oz and costs $3.72. For my USA friends making the recipe, unless you would have a purpose for the 2-3 extra bacon pieces, I would use the full packet, ie 12 oz. Even though the recipe specifies '7 oz'. That is the conversion from 200 grams. Using 12 oz of bacon in the recipe would be totally fine. It is only a small amount extra.
Note 5 - Reserved pasta water: similarly to what I mention in oint 2 with the boiling water, it is tricky to measure accurately when the pasta is boiling and bubbling on the stove. So use a heatproof jug to scoop out 1 to 2 cups of boiling water and then measure from this jug ½ cup (125ml) to add to the sauce.

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