Who doesn’t love Alfredo? This is a classic dish we all love with a twist of my own. I’ve spent quite a while perfecting this beautiful dish just the way I like it; however, the best part about it is that you can easily add your own special twist to it as well. Want to add more veggies to your sauté ? Go ahead! Want to use a different style pasta? Use your imagination! Want to add protein? Great, I recommend a grilled or baked lemon chicken, or shrimp! Do what you love – its your kitchen, family, and tummy. I hope you enjoy my recipe.
Legend has it that in Italy in 1914, a man named Alfredo di Lelio was trying to cook something that would please his pregnant wife. He created a sauce made from parmesan cheese and butter and poured it over some fettuccine. One day, a couple of american tourists discovered Alfredo and his recipe and with his permission, brought it to the USA. And the rest, as they say, was history. Funny enough, since Alfredo only created this for his wife and small restaurant way back then, it isn’t a staple in today’s Italian culture, like it is in American-Italian culture. I couldn’t find Alfredo anywhere I personally traveled to in Italy.
When I finally thought I had perfected my recipe, I sought out to make it for my S.O and his family for our Italian dinner night, and hopefully please their taste-buds just as Alfredo did for his pregnant wife! Earlier that day, I accidentally was served crab at a restaurant we were at for lunch. Unfortunately, I am allergic to shellfish, so through a small panic I was given a few pills of Benadryl and everything turned out to be OK… except, well, my dish. Drugged up and drowsy while shopping for ingredients at Wegmans, I picked up half-and-half instead of heavy cream like I have listed below, and my sauce was not its usual creamy perfection but a clumpy mess. My S.O claims he loved it and still ate it the next day – and I believe him (even if he’s just trying to make me happy :)), but it wasn’t the magic you’re about to experience below!
Serving size: 3-4 servings
Time: 40 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Vegetable Saute: one zucchini, 5 oz (1/2 regular size bag) of baby spinach, 15 cherry tomatoes
- Pasta: 1/2 box of Linguine, olive oil
- Pesto: prepared, 1/4 cup
- Sauce:
- butter: 3 tbsp
- heavy cream: 1/3 cup
- milk: 1 1/4 (one and one fourth) cups
- grated parmesan cheese: 1 1/2 (one and one half) cups
- whole wheat flour: 2 tbsp
- Spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder
Steps:
Pasta:
- In a pot: place water, 2 tsp salt, and 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- Let water come to a boil.
- Place linguine in water and let cook until Al Dente, or however well done you prefer.
- Drain, and set aside.
Vegetable sauté :
- Dress pan with 1 tbsp olive oil; keep over medium heat.
- Slice zucchini and cherry tomatoes and place in pan.
- Place baby spinach in pan.
- Cover pan and let simmer, stir every one or two minutes.
- Once vegetables are golden brown, take pan off of heat and let stand.
- Garnish vegetables with a little bit of salt and pepper (I just sprinkle a pinch or two of each, stir, and set aside).
Alfredo Pesto Sauce:
- Place pan over medium to low heat.
- Melt butter.
- Stir in milk, heavy cream, and whole wheat flour.
- Bring pan to medium-high heat.
- Stir in parmesan cheese until it melts and sauce is smooth.
- At this point, I am at a consistency that I like. If you feel your sauce is too thin, add a both a tbsp of heavy cream and a tbsp of parmesan cheese until you’re at a consistency that you prefer.
- Once the sauce starts to bubble and cheese is melted, turn heat back down to medium-low.
- Stir in pesto.
- Sprinkle in 1 tsp of garlic powder, and pinches of salt and pepper until you are satisfied with the taste. Sauce is all about taste testing at the end!
Now, I like to stir the vegetable sauté into my sauce, and then pour my sauce over the linguine. Prepare any sides as you wish, and I recommend a dry red wine to pair. Salut!
This looks amazing! Heavy cream makes everything better. I’ll give this one a try soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This looks very nice, I will have to try out this recipe out myself soon
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! If you try it out, let me know what you think! 🙂
LikeLike
This recipe looks super yum. I’m saving it and will make it for dinner this week!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! If you try it out let me know what you think! One of my favorite things about it is that it makes a great leftover. Saves you time and money for lunch or dinner the next day! Hope you enjoy 🙂
LikeLike
I am seriously salivating over this! LINGUINE was totally my favorite back in the day and it makes me sad that I can no longer ear it. That being said, it doesn’t mean I can’t STARE at your stunning creationnnnnnn!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi GiGi! Thank you for your feedback! One suggestion I have if you cant have pasta, is to substitute it for zucchini noodles! You can also make the sauce and use it as a savory dressing over baked or grilled chicken! Hope this may have helped or given you some ideas. Thanks again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow this looks so tasty! Will need to give it a try!
LikeLiked by 1 person