We have been making this alfredo sauce for about two years, and I wanted to share a hint. If you sift a little bit of cornstarch into your shredded cheese, and squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the sauce while you are adding your cheese, it will become nice and creamy. We love this recipe, but we also change it a little by adding freshly minced garlic and some asiago along with the romano and parmesan. This stuff is so good we dip our bread into it!
This sauce was a big hit at a dinner party I had, but I did make a few changes. I minced some garlic and sautéed it in the butter on low heat before adding the cream. TIP: if you're concerned the sauce is too soupy, just continue to slowly stir the sauce (for about ten minutes) on low heat after adding the cheese - it will thicken up to perfection. Before adding the sauce to the pasta (along with scallops, shrimp and broccoli) I was a bit concerned about the flavor. I had tasted the sauce from the pan and it was much too salty. I had only added a dash of garlic salt and a dash of table salt, so I couldn't figure what I might have done wrong. My only thought was that I neglected to use unsalted butter, but the recipe hadn't specified. Anyhow, once combined with the pasta, etc., the sauce tasted perfect. I'm sure much of the salty flavor was a result of the cheese, but you can't go wrong with Romano and Parmesan. Next time I will mince/sauté a bit more garlic and I will hold off on the garlic/table salt. I adjusted the servings to feed 12 people, which required 4 sticks of butter. Maybe next time I'll use 2 unsalted and 2 salted sticks, but as I said, once combined with the pasta, the sauce tasted wonderful.
i chose this recipe because it had the best reviews. and it really is very very good. i scaled down the recipe to 4 servings, but beware because the pasta it calls for is WAY too much, especially if you like a lot of sauce. my recommendation is to make the sauce according to this recipe's scale but make the amount of pasta according to the pasta box/label. i also love garlic in my alfredo so i minced about 5 cloves of garlic and added it to the sauce. also make sure that you are watching the sauce at all times and stirring often because the sauce tends to stick at the bottom and curdle there. also added chicken strips sauteed in butter and lawry's garlic salt, which added the saltiness the dish needed, since i made the sauce a little more on the bland side. i made it once with margarine and half and half to skim calories but it does not turn out that well. it tends to congeal and is not as creamy or thick so if you're looking to skim calories, this is not the recipe to do it with. my husband who is obsessed with alfredo thinks it is the best he's ever had. we love alfredo and thought olive garden had the best, but now we will be making this at home. very simple recipe, and love that all the ingredients are so accessible, and doesn't require an egg!
I am writing a review of my own recipe in response to some of the reviews...
...So that everyone knows, this is an authentic Italian (Olive Garden is NOT Italian) recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo, therefore, it doesn't have garlic. Garlic is an American addition to the dish. I didn't leave it out on accident, nor am I preparing the dish incorrectly.
Thank you for all of the positive feedback!!
Erin
Pretty good - very similar to Olive Garden. Best thing besides taste is that this recipe has no egg in it!
Good even without the parmesean added at the end.
If you have leftovers and the butter separates, add more cream before heating and stir after heating - it will be just like when it was fresh.
Be careful of this stuff though - sauce is extremely fattening!!! Great as a once in a while treat.
You couldn't get it any more correct, this is the "method", can't bring myself to call it a recipe since it was a spur of the moment concoction of Alfredo's of Rome. My husband and I go every April and when we did this last year we were staying just a few feet from this city's icon, so of course we went and had their signature dish. This is it! They do however, rub a cut garlic bulb inside the pasta bowl just like a good Ceasar salad. Remember to reserve at least a 1/2 cup of your pasta water to thin the sauce before serving, it thickens rapidly.
True to its claim! It really is to die for. I used some chopped fresh basil from my garden and added more Parmesan and Romano. This sauce is wonderful over Penne Rigate with shrimp, scallops and crab! My company loved it. They said better than their favorite seafood restaurant!
This is excellent! Very rich and delicious. I've subbed more parmesan for the romano, and it's just as good. I've even made it once accidentally with half-and-half, and it still turned out great and was even re-heatable. Overall, a great recipe, even to our picky Italian family!
Very buttery! I think half the butter would have worked fine. But I am also a picky alfredo sauce eater, so others may think it was wonderful.
