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Creamy Pasta Alfredo

Creamy Pasta Alfredo

Pasta Alfredo is a great side-dish to keep in mind for nights when you don't have the time to make potatoes, and want something that presents a little nicer than rice.  Best of all, it can be made with ingredients you probably already have on hand.   Click below to read more.


My kids love this dish.  When I was cooking it tonight, my oldest son, Ryan came bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen shouting, "I knew it!  I knew you were making those noodles. I could smell this from my room!"

I told him what he was smelling was simply garlic, which could mean I was making any one of a thousand different things, but he insisted that the Alfredo sauce has a particular smell, and he could tell exactly what I was cooking.

Typically, this dish is made with Fettuccine, but in my kitchen I go with what's on hand and easily accessible.  Tonight, it was Ziti.  Cooking shouldn't be about rules, but trying out new things and being flexible.  If you added some grilled chicken or shrimp, this could easily be a main course.

The bonus for me is I got to use one of my favorite dishes!  My husband bought this one for me last year, and it makes me happy every time I get to use it.  It's the simple things in life...

Creamy Pasta Alfredo Recipe

Ingredients
1 box pasta
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
3/4 cup half and half
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Locatelli cheese
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped finely
1 cup of starchy pasta cooking water, reserved

Directions

 For the sauce:

  1. In a sauce pan, melt butter on medium high heat.  Add garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant (about a minute or two).
  2. Add half and half, milk, and Locatelli cheese.  Cook on medium heat until it starts to boil, stirring constantly so the dairy products don't scorch.  The sauce thickens when it is heated to boiling.  You want it to coat the back of a spoon.  If you find it too thick, you can thin with more milk.
  3. Stir in half of the parsley.  Turn heat off.


For the pasta:

  1. Boil the pasta according to the directions on the box.
  2. When pasta is cooked to desired firmness, take a coffee mug and remove a cup of the starchy cooking water.
  3. drain noodles into a collander


To combine :

  1. Transfer drained noodles back into the pasta cooking pot.
  2. Pour Alfredo sauce over noodles.  Mix well.
  3. Add enough of the reserved starchy cooking water so that the noodles move easily in the pot and they're not too sticky.  Stir carefully so that everything is well mixed.
  4. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with reserved parsley.
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