This recipe is much lighter than most alfredo sauces. You won't find a whole stick of butter or a whole brick of cream cheese in this recipe (not that there is anything wrong with that!). The small amount of heavy cream, butter, milk, and cream cheese blend together wonderfully to make a thick yet still creamy sauce. The cheese and garlic give it rich flavor. We ate this pasta dish with chicken parmesan the first time and had leftovers with plain cooked chicken. Both times it was delicious!
- Ingredients:
- 8 oz. fettuccine pasta, uncooked (I used whole grain linguine)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 Tbsp flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/8 - 1/4 tsp garlic powder, to taste
- 1 1/2 oz. freshly, finely shredded Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp slightly packed)
- 2 oz Neufchatel cheese (aka 1/3 less fat cream cheese), diced into cubes
- freshly ground white or black pepper, to taste
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional
- finely shredded Romano cheese for serving, optional
Directions:
- Cook pasta according to directions listed on package. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Once fully melted mix in flour and cook, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Gradually add in a little milk at time, whisking vigorously until smooth after each addition. Stir in cream, lemon juice, salt and garlic powder. While stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming, cook sauce until mixture thickens and begins to gently bubble.
- Reduce heat to low, add in Parmesan cheese and Neufchatel cheese and stir until cheese has melted. Stir in a few tbsp pasta water to thin sauce if desired. Drain cooked pasta well (DO NOT rinse pasta with water or the pasta sauce wont stick) then pour drained pasta into sauce and toss to evenly coat. Serve immediately garnished with ground pepper, optional parsley and Romano cheese.
i still need to try this!!!
ReplyDelete