Fettuccine Alfredo

I mentioned I'm trying an experiment: meal planning for the entire month and eating out of my pantry and freezer and garden. We had guests over for dinner Saturday, and I needed to make something that would feed 5 mouths and used what I had on hand (and wouldn’t be too “boring” for guests!) Having a few scalable recipes has been useful for me. I prefer a ratio or approximate amounts of ingredients to exactly-measured instructions so I can easily make more or less of something without doing complex math. Another advantage of scalable recipes is I can use exactly what I have on hand rather than having little bits left over.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Equal parts heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tablespoons butter for every cup of cheese

Fresh-grated parmesan is obviously best, but even the stuff in the green can will work for this recipe.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add cream and mix with butter. Add cheese. Simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add more cheese if desired.

Throw in some garlic, pepper, paprika, or whatever else you might like to spice it up, but just the basic formula will result in a great sauce- way better than what you’d get out of a jar!

Serve hot over fettuccine. Top with grilled chicken strips, if desired. I used leftover roast chicken to top this.

Healthy? Some would say no. I like to think, I’m using whole ingredients rather than ingesting the colorings and preservatives in the jarred sauce, so this recipe is better than the alternative. Some of the cream could probably be replaced with milk to lower the calorie count. I’m not sure if replacing the butter with margarine would work, but it’s worth a try, if you’re concerned about it.

And, Voila! Dinner! In no time!