# Alfredo Sauce recipie??



## Taz575 (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm trying to find a good, cheesy, creamy Alfredo sauce recipe. I've tried a few, but they were kinda bland and not cheesy enough and kinda watery. Anyone have a good recipe for this?? Any tips on cheeses to use besides Parm? I saw some recipe's with Mozzarella and Cream Cheese.


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## apicius9 (Jul 25, 2012)

I prefer Newman's  Sorry, can't really help....

stefan


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## obtuse (Jul 25, 2012)

http://gratineeblog.com/2010/09/marcella-hazans-fettuccine-in-cream-and-butter-sauce-served-with-grilled-jumbo-prawns/ this is the recipe I use. I can't imagine using cream cheese in an Alfredo sauce. Try to use the highest quality cream you can get.


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## Taz575 (Jul 25, 2012)

Yeah, the cream cheese sounded odd! I may have used milk the times I tried it, I will have to try the cream. That may explain why it was kinda watery. I also found one that is supposed to be better than Olive Gardens. There was a little hole in the wall Italian place that I went to and it had absolutely killer Alfredo, but I haven't been able to get close to it. I tried the jars of Alfredo sauce and they are kinda nasty!


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## DeepCSweede (Jul 25, 2012)

I know this doesn't help you but I am a bit of a cheater, one of my favorite things is to make a bastardized version of alfredo. I get an alfredo sauce from the regfrigerator section at the grocery store (I tried the jarred stuff but that is disgusting). I start by sauteing finely chopped onions and chopped mushrooms with half a stick of butter and then adding a tablespoon (5-6 cloves) of garlic for a few minutes and then adding a cup of so of Rhine wine. Cook that for a few minutes to let the onions and mushroom soak up some of that flavor then add the container of sauce. Let that reduce for several minutes and then add seafood of choice. I usually use Shrimp and Scallops and then just cook those through and serve over linguine. I would compare it to the portofino sauce at olive garden. 

If I have a lot of time, I will cook the shrimp shells in the butter first and then discard the shells to get all of the taste out, but I don't always want to take the time.


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## WildBoar (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm surprised your sauces have been coming out watery; are you using heavy cream? When are you adding the cheese?

The best alfredo I've had was at a local 'dive' that served Austrian and Northern Italian food. It consisted of heavy cream and a little bit of nutmeg. Some parmesan got sprinkled over after the fettucini was mixed in.

I don't have a specific recipe for a cheesy alfredo sauce, as I don't think I've ever made it the same twice. You can saute shallots or onions (butter is probably the best fat for this) if you want, add some minced garlic (or not), then pour in the cream. Once it thickens a bit you can take it off the heat and add the cheese. For something cheesy/ creamy, you may want to go with fontina or asiago cheese instead of parmesan, and you can also use more then one cheese. A little cracked black pepper is a nice addition, and taste to see if you need to add a little salt.


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## Taz575 (Jul 25, 2012)

I was using 2% milk IIRC, which was probably why it was watery. I sauted mushrooms and onions, added in some garlic, added in the milk and the cheese at the same time, used Parmesan cheese, then black pepper. It didn't seem to have much cheese flavor, but I may have added it too early? It's been a few years since I last tried it.


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## Delbert Ealy (Jul 25, 2012)

One of the things that I have been using to help emusify cheese into sauces has been sour cream. I started out using heavy cream, but I don't use it all the time and I hate having it go to waste. Sour cream(for me) is always in the fridge and never goes to waste. It works for me, I have been doing this for potato soups and chowders, but I havn't tried this for alfredo sauce. It does add a bit of tang, and speaking of which i also have used cream chese on occasion, but its hard to keep it in the house(my daughter Lily loves cream cheese).
Del


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## cnochef (Jul 25, 2012)

Good Alfredo sauce is simply 35% whipping cream reduced by half with the best Parmigiano Reggiano cheese possible. Make sure you are using authentic DOC cheese, I get mine from a local cheese monger that ages it a further 24 months for extra sharpness. If you make it properly with quality ingredients, it will not be watery and will be plenty sharp.


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## DeepCSweede (Jul 25, 2012)

cnochef said:


> Good Alfredo sauce is simply 35% whipping cream reduced by half with the best Parmigiano Reggiano cheese possible. Make sure you are using authentic DOC cheese, I get mine from a local cheese monger that ages it a further 24 months for extra sharpness. If you make it properly with quality ingredients, it will not be watery and will be plenty sharp.



I have always wanted to try and make it and was just going to ask what kind of parm was best to use. Thanks.


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## WildBoar (Jul 25, 2012)

I suspected as much. 2% is the killer -- needs to be cream. Also, put in the cheese at the end to melt it, or it will spearate. You just want it to warm and melt; it does not need to be cooked.


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## cnochef (Jul 25, 2012)

I forgot to say that you add a bit of fresh grated nutmeg to the sauce and I like mine with lots of fresh ground black pepper too!


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## Taz575 (Jul 25, 2012)

Great tips guys, thanks!!!


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## Keith Neal (Jul 25, 2012)

Mario Batali's recipe is interesting. For 1 1/4 pounds of pasta dough made into fettuccine and cooked, placed in a bowl, mix in 1 stick cubed of unsalted butter and 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-reggiano. Loosen with pasta water as necessary, salt and pepper. Simple and delicious.


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## cnochef (Jul 25, 2012)

Keith Neal said:


> Mario Batali's recipe is interesting. For 1 1/4 pounds of pasta dough made into fettuccine and cooked, placed in a bowl, mix in 1 stick cubed of unsalted butter and 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-reggiano. Loosen with pasta water as necessary, salt and pepper. Simple and delicious.



It is interesting, but I don't know if I'd call it Alfredo sauce. It's more like what I know as pasta al burro (pasta with butter and parmesan cheese sauce).


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## Keith Neal (Jul 25, 2012)

Mario says it was reportedly invented in Rome in the 20th century specifically for American actors. Then the American version got creamy, I guess.

I don't recall seeing pasta al burro in Italy. Is it a standard dish there?


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## jm2hill (Jul 25, 2012)

I'll tell you I'm dying for some real alfredo, but in my current means to be healthy/less cal I'm left with a cauliflower "alfredo" .

So for anyone thats interested which probably won't be many.

Boil cauliflower until tender.
in a pan combine olive oil, garlic, mushrooms and onions.
Once cooked combine, all above + almond mik in blender and blend till smooth. Add S&P and lemon juice to taste.

Serve over anything. I mean anything, I seriously enjoy this with steak and potatoes a lot.

Theres also a nice cashew variant of this.


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## Deckhand (Jul 25, 2012)

cnochef said:


> Good Alfredo sauce is simply 35% whipping cream reduced by half with the best Parmigiano Reggiano cheese possible. Make sure you are using authentic DOC cheese, I get mine from a local cheese monger that ages it a further 24 months for extra sharpness. If you make it properly with quality ingredients, it will not be watery and will be plenty sharp.



Wow that sounds too easy will definitely be trying that soon. Whipping cream and parmigiano reggiano microplaned and reduced by half. Great tip. Thanks so much. I make a similar sauce whipping cream,Parmesan,Romano, stick of butter, reduced then a little flour to thicken.


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## SameGuy (Jul 25, 2012)

cnochef said:


> Good Alfredo sauce is simply 35% whipping cream reduced by half with the best Parmigiano Reggiano cheese possible. Make sure you are using authentic DOC cheese, I get mine from a local cheese monger that ages it a further 24 months for extra sharpness. If you make it properly with quality ingredients, it will not be watery and will be plenty sharp.


This.

I've been making it the same way since I was in my teens, using a cheater recipe. "Real" Alfredo is simply pure fresh sweet butter and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Unfortunately, most commercial butters available in supermarkets are too low in fat to combine properly with the cheese and render a creamy sauce. The cheater recipe uses heavy (35%) cream reduction. I've been winging it for the last 20 years or so, but IIRC for 500 g of fettucine (four normal servings): melt &#189; cup (one stick) of sweet butter over medium flame, then add 1 cup of heavy cream and bring to a simmer for a couple of minutes. Add &#190; cup of finely-grated Reggiano and stir until completely incorporated. Put well-drained al dente pasta into the sauce pan (still over heat) and toss well coat. Dish up. Add more Reggiano to taste.

These days I don't make the sauce separately, instead under-cooking the fettucine by a minute and making the sauce in the same pot as the drained pasta.


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## SameGuy (Jul 25, 2012)

cnochef said:


> It is interesting, but I don't know if I'd call it Alfredo sauce. It's more like what I know as pasta al burro (pasta with butter and parmesan cheese sauce).



Yes, but "Alfredo" doesn't really exist as a dish in Italy; it is indeed known anywhere in Rome as "pasta al burro."  I remember ordering it as a pasta course at Al Girarrosto Toscano near the Villa Borghese and they scratched their heads until I ordered it as _past'al burro... doppio!_&#8203;


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## wenus2 (Jul 25, 2012)

I melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan, add 2 cloves minced garlic and let it simmer on low for a bit to infuse the flavor. Then I add 1 pint of heavy whipping cream and warm over medium heat, once hot I slowly fold in 1 cup of freshly grated Reggiano (it not freshly grated it doesn't melt as well). It will seem a little thin at first, but thickens in a few minutes. Finish it off with several grinds of white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg and pour over hot fettuccini noodles.

I find that the timing of all of this works out really well with the cook time of pasta (3min). When I add my fresh pasta to the water at the same time I add my garlic to the butter, dinner is less than 5 minutes from being on the table.

This is a very rich and creamy sauce, just what you were looking for I believe. Thinking about it makes my mouth water and my gallbladder hurt at the same time.
Dump some shrimp scampi on top of this and I am in heaven.


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## wenus2 (Jul 25, 2012)

I guess I took forever to write that.

Looks like Francesco uses pretty much the same recipe, its a good one.


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## SameGuy (Jul 25, 2012)

GMTA 

I don't add garlic, but that sounds darn tasty, too.


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## Taz575 (Jul 26, 2012)

I may try this today to go with my steak


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## SameGuy (Jul 26, 2012)

Oh, it's a bit rich for pairing up! 

My oldest best friend and I call this KMN food. As in: slouched back in the chair saying, "Kill me now..." Then again, I've always thought the recipe amount of 100 grams of pasta per serving to be a crock of siht. For red sauce pasta my dad and I always had 225+ g each (and we've always been skinny); for Alfredo maybe 150 to 200 g each.


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## cnochef (Jul 26, 2012)

Steak and Fettuccine Alfredo, that'll put you in a food coma for sure. Just add some garlic toast and you're set.

Steak also pairs well with Alfredo enriched with bleu cheese


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## Taz575 (Jul 26, 2012)

Didn't get to the grocery store, so I'm doing steak and cheesy mashed potatoes  I can't stand Blue Cheese for some reason??


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## SameGuy (Jul 26, 2012)

Steak with Boursin and port reduction, perhaps?


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## Taz575 (Jul 27, 2012)

Went to the store. Parm Reggiano, Asiago and Fontina cheeses, Shitake Mushrooms, heavy cream, fettucine noodles and garlic/herb/wine marinade for the chicken breast tenderloin. Gonna be a good dinner!!! :hungry:


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## SameGuy (Jul 27, 2012)

Sounds great!

OT: is there a reason I can't edit my posts in this thread? I just noticed the HTML entities for the fractions (½ and ¾) I was typing in one post did not work for some reason but I can't edit them now.


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## wenus2 (Jul 27, 2012)

There's a 15 (iirc) minute edit timer to allow for changes, after which history cannot be changed else by mods.


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## Taz575 (Jul 27, 2012)

First I did this :cheffry:

Then I did this :hungry:

Now I'm :dazed: FOOD COMA!!!

Half of a Vidalia Onion, fine diced. 1 tray of Shitake Mushrooms, fine sliced, sauted in 2/3 stick of butter, added in 4 gloves of minced garlic after a few minutes. Started the fettucine boiling, chicken tenders were spiced with a McCormick rub (maple brown sugar maybe?) and grilled. Added some white whine, let cook down. Then added 3/4 pint of heavy cream and let thicken. Added in some Parmesan, Peccarina Regiano and Asiago and stirred in after I removed it from the heat. Tenders were done as I was mixing the sauce with the strained fettucine. 

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks guys:thanx:, that was what I have been looking for since I had the stuff at that restaurant around 7 years ago! Next time, smaller dice on the onion and a little less of it, more mushrooms (maybe Portabella's?) and the whole container of heavy cream. There wasn't much sauce left over after it was mixed with the fettucine, but it was enough for the pasta; I just like lots of sauce  Really cheesy and creamy, exactly what I was after! Parents even liked it!

Ok, nap time!! :sleeping:


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## SameGuy (Jul 27, 2012)

LOL! It sounds absolutely scrumptious. [pedantic] It's not Fettuccine Alfredo or past'al burro by any stretch, [/pedantic] but who the frig cares?  I'm drooling at the thought of your meal, and will have to copy that recipe for future use. Well done!


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## Taz575 (Jul 27, 2012)

The meal topped off a pretty good day! I got some new arrows for my new recurve bow I just picked up; I am just starting to learn how to shoot. And I actually started to get some sort of grouping on the target finally!! Then I had that for dinner. Now I'm gonna watch a movie and relax and then go to bed. I've been up for almost 21 hours straight right now!


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