A Customizable Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe, Ready In Only 30 Minutes (2024)

FAQs

How do you make Alfredo more interesting? ›

Heartier herbs like thyme or oregano can be added in to simmer with the sauce. Add delicate herbs like parsley, basil, or chervil at the end to maintain their delicate, aromatic flavor. Quick tip: Swirl in a bit of leftover pesto to add another herbaceous twist to your Alfredo sauce.

Extra seasonings and spices will go a long way in adding flavor to a boring jar of sauce. Some of my personal favorites include salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, dried basil, oregano, onion powder or seasoned salt. Start with small amounts (1/2 teaspoon at a time) and add as needed, in order to avoid over-spicing.

National Fettuccine Alfredo Day is observed annually on February 7th. Alfredo di Lelio, an Italian restaurateur, created Fettuccine Alfredo in 1908. After his wife had given birth to their first son that year, she did not have an appetite. To help encourage her to eat, he created a dish of noodles, cheese and butter.

Alfredo sauce is quick and easy to make, recipes are on line and several are pretty good. But that's not the question. To make store bought taste better add some fresh grated parm or romano cheese, a shake of white pepper and a pinch of italian seasoning.

Add Cheese

The key ingredient in Alfredo sauce is cheese—generally Parmigiano Reggiano—and lots of it. To thicken Alfredo sauce, simply add more cheese than the amount called for in a recipe until you achieve the consistency you want.

There are dozens of variations of fettuccine Alfredo out there. You could sprinkle in fresh herbs and lemon zest or juice to cut the richness of the cream. You could also top servings with cooked shrimp or chicken for some protein, or toss in a vegetable like cooked asparagus!

Dress up a dull jar of Alfredo with a drizzle of infused oil. Infused oils are olive oils that have been mixed with fresh ingredients and allowed to marinate together to create an aromatic oil. Fresh herbs are commonly infused in olive oil, and garlic and spicy chilies also work well.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to mix about a spoonful of cornstarch to 2 spoonfuls of liquid – it could be water or chicken stock or even milk. You will add this mixture, also called a slurry to the sauce and as it starts to cook, the sauce will thicken.

After 12 ounces of fettuccine pasta noodles are finished cooking, reserve 2 cups of the pasta water to include in your sauce. The starchy water is essential to creating a thick, creamy sauce consistency.

The original fettuccine Alfredo

The real Alfredo sauce is delicious because of its simplicity. The only ingredients are butter, Parmesan cheese and pepper. That's it! You'll find neither heavy cream nor parsley in the original recipe.

Is fettuccine Alfredo true Italian? ›

Fettuccine Alfredo, it turns out, is 100% Italian. To be fair, the original recipe is quite different from whatever you may find in the States. Italians have been eating Fettuccine Alfredo for over a century…

Yet, the term Alfredo is used the majority of time in the United States, because two Hollywood actors travelled to Italy and tried the original Alfredo sauce in 1914. Alfredo di Lelio, a Roman restaurateur who was popular among American tourists, named his butter and cheese linguine after himself.

Add a few dashes of garlic powder to your simmering sauce, or a clove or two of fresh sauteed garlic, to brighten up the Alfredo and make its flavor pop. You can also sprinkle in some fresh or dried herbs, like oregano, thyme, or basil, to add complexity to the sauce.

Don't overheat any cheese sauce or it will “break” meaning that the cheese will separate into a thin sauce and bits of cheese which describes the “grainy” nature of your Alfredo sauce. Ideally Alfredo sauce should not be “cooked” at all but combined using the heat from the pasta only.

Stir in big handfuls of spinach, Kale mushrooms, zucchini, onions, broccoli, spinach, squash, or grape tomatoes after the pasta is cooked. You can also substitute zucchini (zoodles) for the pasta.

If you don't have sauce in the house, grilled, stir-fried or baked veggies can add lots of flavor and texture. Butternut or acorn squash, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onion are all great options to add to a pasta dish, along with some minced garlic, olive oil, and herbs.

The original fettuccine Alfredo

The real Alfredo sauce is delicious because of its simplicity. The only ingredients are butter, Parmesan cheese and pepper. That's it! You'll find neither heavy cream nor parsley in the original recipe.