Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine alfredo is a well known Italian pasta dish. The original recipe was originally just made with cheese and butter; however, most of the versions you see nowadays in America have additions such as heavy cream to help carry the butter and cheese.

The recipe I use is from Deadspin, and actually covers both variations. I generally do the version with heavy cream. Since the original article is long form, here's the short version.

Ingredients

• 1 lb fettuccine
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan
  • Make sure you start with an actual block of Parmesan and grate it. The bottles of pre-grated Parmesan that you typically put on pizza have lots of cellulose to prevent caking, which will be really unpleasant in a sauce like this.
  • If you don't have a grater that can grate cheese quickly, you can also use a blender to grate large amounts of cheese quickly. You want it to be grated very finely (a similar consistency to what you'd see in the aforementioned bottles).

Directions

1. Heat a pot of salted water for your pasta.
2. In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium-low heat.
3. Crush the garlic slightly so it's cracked, and put in the butter. When the butter is melted, turn the heat down to low and let the garlic sit in the butter until the pasta water is boiling.
4. When the water is boiling, put the fettuccine in the water.
5. Add the heavy cream to the butter. Raise the temperature to medium-low, and heat until the heavy cream is hot but not boiling, stirring occasionally.
   • The cream is hot enough when it's steaming. It might be easiest to look at the skillet at eye level to see.
   • It's very important not to boil the cream, because you don't want it to curdle. If you start to see bubbling, reduce the heat.
6. Remove the garlic clove, and slowly stir in the cheese. Stir continuously until the cheese is completely melted and the sauce is smooth. Turn the heat down to low to keep the sauce warm until the pasta is ready.
7. One the pasta is cooked to al dente according to the package directions, drain. Remove the sauce from heat, add the pasta into the sauce skillet, toss until the pasta until it's fully coated with sauce, and serve.