Fettuccine, Fast and Furiously Good!
I know, when I go to the Macaroni Grill, aka "the place carb-aholics go to die" that there will be a few temptations, bread being the first. When I'm being good, I am able to take the high road and order foods that wont instantly put me to sleep; but I have had one favorite since I was a child, Fettuccine Alfredo. Now, being in my 40's I can't run around ordering this dish willy-nilly, but my over-active, teenage daughter can! Lucky for me, she's always willing to share a bite. I raised her right!
Maybe you want to make something special for Valentine's day, or for company. Or maybe you just love it as much as I do. Some people don't know how fast and easy this dish is to make, but it's very forgiving so don't be afraid! Here is my recipe and it's kind of amazing, if I do say so myself. You can lower the fat, and it still tastes very good. Use fettuccine noodles. I've made my own and it was amazing, but if you were in a pinch, you could use spaghetti, though there's really only one noodle perfect for this dish. Give it a try!
Ingredients
- 1 pkg. Fettuccine noodles
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) Salted butter
- 1/2 pint Any kind of cream, Creme Fraiche, 1/2 &1/2 (fat free if preferred), heavy cream.
- 6 oz. Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
- 1 C. Romano or Parmesan, sprinkle cheese, from the tall can
- Salt, pepper, To taste.
- Boil one pkg fettuccine noodles, drain and rinse, leave in colander. Use same pot for the sauce. Lower temp. to med heat. Drop in one stick of salted butter, let melt. To be extra decadent, you can use 8 oz. of creme fraiche, stir until dissolved OR use 1/2 pint of any kind of heavy cream, OR whipping cream. To reduce some of the calories, I use fat-free half and half 'cause with butter and cheese, it's still very rich. I've made both and the latter is just as good. (Save other half of pint for your coffee.) Let milk heat up so cheese will melt. Whisk. Keep whisking, drop in 6 oz cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese, (like Digiorno shredded) stir until melted. *Optional: Add white cooking wine, maybe 1/2 cup. You definitely want the sauce to be thick, but not like gravy.
- Add 1 cup of sprinkle Romano or Parmesan cheese. I prefer the Parmesan. You can work with the sprinkle cheese and the cooking wine or even a little milk/cream to get the sauce to the consistency you want. (Remember, too watery is not good, but the sauce continues to thicken so air on the side of thinner rather than too thick.) I'm a little heavy handed on the pepper. The best secret I can give you for making this a successful dish is to let it sit in the pot for about 20 min. before serving on a very low temp. It cooks off the liquid and it just kind of "bakes" the whole dish together. Pour the noodles back in the pot, stir and serve.
