So, while I love my American style Alfredo Sauce recipe, this Italian version is soooo good. It is light and creamy. And anyone who knows me, knows I love pasta. I can eat plain pasta (with no sauce or butter) like popcorn. David of course thinks this is so weird and maybe it is...but nonetheless, I still love it.
(You can check out the ALFREDO SAUCE (Italian Style) version here!)
In Italy, Alfredo is not heavy. Its made simply with just 3 ingredients: butter, parmesan cheese, and pasta water. No more, no less. I found this recipe in one of my favorite cooking magazines: Milk Street. I've had Alfredo in Italy and this tastes so much like the pasta I had in Florence.
It is important, to make this recipe work, you use only enough water to cover the noodles when boiling them. This will ensure that the noodle water is starchy. You will reserve 1 cup of this water to help thicken the sauce and finish cooking the noodles. You can not skip this step; it is key to a creamy sauce!
Cooking time should be 1-2 minutes less than packaging requires.
(You can check out the ALFREDO SAUCE (Italian Style) version here!)
Tip: I do NOT recommend using pre-grated parmesan cheese. Pre-grated parmesan can work in the American style, but in this dish it becomes gritty and does not have that light, creamy texture.
Yields 6 servings
Equipment:
Shallow or wide pot (if you have one) for boiling noodles
Large Mixing Bowl, preferably metal
Tongs
Ingredients:
Your favorite noodle
8 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
1 cup of freshly grated parmesan
Directions:
Step 1: Bring water to a boil and add noodles.**Use only enough water to cover the noodles and cook 1-2 mins less than package instructions -or- follow instructions for al dente noodle**
Step 2: Break the butter into pieces and dot the entire bowl with the pieces. No need to smear the butter.
Step 3: When noodles have reached the required cooking time, take off heat. Reserve 1 cup of the water. Do not drain the water. Using tongs, move the noodles from the water to the butter dotted bowl. It's ok if some water gets in the bowl.
Step 4: Gently move the noodles around the bowl until all the butter is melted and the noodles are covered.
Step 5: Add half of the grated parmesan cheese to the noodles and 1/8 - 1/4 cup of the starchy water. Gently move the noodles around the bowl until all the cheese is melted.
Step 6: Repeat step 5! Once the cheese is melted, viola, its done!
**NOTE: Remember you can always add water, but you can't remove it. If you add too much water, the dish will be watery! I know this from experience. **
So , so easy! And tastes beautiful!
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