Fettuccini Alfredo

Fettuccini Alfredo as a Quick and Easy Meal:

So, you are craving a dinner that rich and satisfying, but don’t have much time on your hands?  Try throwing together this delicious Fettuccini Alfredo pasta.

You can make this dish is less than 30 minutes.  All you need is four basic ingredients: Fettuccini pasta, butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Parmesan cheese.  In fact, if you were going with the original recipe invented in Italy, you would only need three basic ingredients: Fehttuchini pasta, butter, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Parmesan cheese.  However, since the American-Italian version is more creamy, we will go with that.

Any other ingredient is nice to have but not necessary.  Work with what you have.

Variations to the traditional Fettuccini Alfredo:

If you want to add even more flavor to your Fettuccini Alfredo, you can add some smoked flat pancetta.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

To make the dish even more filling, you can incorporate some grilled or baked chicken.

Shrimp or crab would also work well with this dish.

Point is, you’ve got options.

Steps to Creamy and Delicious Fettuccini Alfredo:

First, bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add some Olive Oil and salt.

Next, add the Fettuccini to the boiling water and cook it to the lower end of the box’s directions.

You want the pasta to be a little on the “al dente” (Italian for “to the tooth” or firm) side.  Basically, you don’t want pasta that will become mushy.  No one likes that.

Drain the pasta, and set aside.  Whenever I need to drain pasta or vegetables, I use a colander.

In the same pot, melt the butter on medium heat.  I use a sweet Irish butter for this recipe.

Add the cream.  Cook until the mixture begins to thicken.

While stirring, slowly incorporate the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into the sauce.

Return the Fettuccini to the sauce.

Gently toss the pasta into the sauce.  I used these thongs to get the job done.  These thongs are great for many cooking uses.

At this point, if you are adding any additional ingredient to the dish (such as pancetta, cooked chicken, or cooked shrimp), now is a good time.  Since I was extra hungry, I added a cup of shredded, baked chicken.

Serve with some additional Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

If you love this pasta recipe, you might want to try my other pasta dishes.

Recipes included are:

• Quick, Easy and Cheesy Pasta Bake
• Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
• Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
• Cheeseburger Macaroni and Cheese
• Penne Alla Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce
• Spaghetti with Browned Butter and Mizithra