YUM. As it was explained to me, in a cooking class in Italy, the original recipe uses Italian butter which has double or triple cream content depending on the brand & area of the country in which it's produced. If you don't have access to that style of butter then use your local butter + cream to approximate the richer butter. I now only make an authentic alfredo once or twice a year, because I can feel my arteries hardening as I eat it, but my best recipe for alfredo has always been to ---> Buy a ticket to Florence and on arrival try alfredo in at least 6 restaurants! It won't vary much from restaurant to restaurant but noone in their right mind would serve you 6 servings of alfredo so you have to cheat a little... ;)

Mmmm, alfredo! Thanks for the nudge. I last made fettucini alfredo maybe 20 years ago. Such a rich, indulgent dish is worth saving for a rare treat.

I think I'll make it the night before Thanksgiving: I'll have a bit of cream left over from making pumpkin pie and after doing lots of holiday prep, I'll want to make something simple and fast. A dish of alfredo and a big serving of greens would make a perfect get-me-out-of-the-kitchen dinner!

I make this, with the addition of mushrooms and chicken thighs then baked in the oven till the chicken is done.

Then we put it on pasta. Mmmmmmmmmm

There is a way to make a lower fat version using 2% or whole milk...

Make a small amount of a very blond roux first, then add the dairy. When done right and reduced, you can get a luxurious creamy sauce with much less fat than using heavy cream.

Another low-cal option: cook lots of garlic in olive oil and coat pasta with mixture. Mix in fat-free yogurt (cook on low for a bit if you must, but do NOT over-heat!! The yogurt with get stringy and gross). Mix in parmesan cheese with lots of black pepper (you don't even really need the cheese). Surprisingly delicious! Be sure to add vegetables for extra fiber.

Don't forget nutmeg. I find just a dash of freshly grated nutmeg "makes" the dish for me.

On the subject of lite alfredo:
No, no, 1000 times no.

Try the good stuff then compare.
It's too rich to eat a whole meal of it? Then split it 10 ways and have a salad next to it.
Eat a whole bunch of broccoli with garlic on the side.
Have a grilled chicken breast ... way over there as your secondi, not on top of the pasta.

Trust me on this. It's better to have a little of something awesome than a big gloppy roux-sticky pile of something OK.

And another thumbs up on nutmeg.

I love adding sauted red onion, garlic, zucchini, and carrots to fettucini alfredo. You get the indulgent alfredo part with the delicious veggies and somehow don't feel quite as guilty about the whole thing.

Any Alfredo recipe that doesn't include nutmeg is highly suspect.

it's not fettuccine if it's light. Why not just eat less.

I come from roux-alfredo people. Never really have heavy cream laying around, but I always have milk, butter, flour, and parm, and thus am always prepared for emergency midnight alfredo needs. :)

My favorite mthod of making Alfredo is similar, but with higher quantities (1 and 1/2 sticks of butter, 3 cups of cream, 1 cup of parm.. melt butter, add cream and cook until thickened and reduced and is about a medium consistency. Add cheese and it'll be perfect consistency and rich!).

yogurt in fettuccine Alfredo-that is just wrong. I agree, just eat less and enjoy the real stuff.

Really with the roux hate?? I do it this way often, with sauteed garlic as well. Typically I'll build an "alfredo" and add marinara to make a pink sauce. I love the rich dairy with the tomato acid, it's actually my favorite pasta sauce.

Was this post the traditional real Italian way to make it? If so - great now I know! But really people, why would you give other people crap for creating a lighter recipe?

So yummy so evil (I would eat it anyway--in moderation).

For me, what makes Alfredo so great is the fresh Parmesan. I don't need the butter or cream. So a 'lite' sauce made of a roux and skim milk is just as satisfying so long as there is plenty of cheese.

I think this dish is what turned my step-kids on to me as the "new addition" to our foodie-family -- once I made this creamy, rich pasta-perfection it was bliss from that point forward! We always go all the way with European butter, cream and high quality Parmesan -- there's usually no talking, lots of bowl scraping and asking for seconds -- I love it!

Also, I didn't see it posted, but I usually put half a cup of nearly boiling water into the serving bowls for a few minutes prior to plating to heat them and keep the Alfredo creamy once it reaches the table.

Dang. I hate to tell you all this, but Fettuccine Alfredo did not originate in Italy. It was created by a Italian restauranteur in New York. The original dish was butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese poured over the hot cooked pasta.

Traditionally the sauce was prepared in a chafing dish at the dining table (the three ingredients coalesce quickly), then poured over the hot cooked pasta and served in hot bowls.

Regardless, I love it more than another other dish, and if a restaurant can't make a decent Fettuccine Alfredo, then I don't go back.

I read this post late Friday night after one too many glasses of wine and HAD to have it. I wish I hadn't, this is so addicting.

Cereal bowl with a little cream, butter, salt, microwaved for 20 seconds. Add shaved parmesan, leftover pasta, nuke 30 seconds. Add more parm and toss the pasta around, bam, amazingness, who knew such a luxurious dish could be created so sloppily. Add a little lemon juice, mmm heaven. I felt like a college student making drunk-pizza, but more refined! :)

I've never had much luck making alfredo, but followed this recipe almost to the letter and I couldn't be happier with the result.

Looking back at past versions of alfredo I have used before, I noticed that all of them, save this one, had you melt the cheese along with the butter and cream. I think letting the heat of the pasta melt the cheese has to have made the difference.

The only things I did different than this recipe was use half parm, half asiago and also added nutmeg.

@SunnyBlue - regardless where the dish originated it's the Italian version that's sublime because the butter and pasta are better quality.

I made this recipe this weekend, and things were great until I added the second half of the Parmesan. It clumped up instead of melting. Perhaps my pasta wasn't hot enough to melt it too? Anyway, great recipe and I'll try it again, just adding all of the Parmesan at the beginning.

Hmmm, I'm gonna have to call BS on this one: "it's extremely hard to go wrong."
I've had lots of made-from-scratch alfredo that was just horrible and bland. But hear, hear to the good stuff. I love it.

Hi, i'm a girl from Italy.
I just wanted to say that this recipe has nothing to do with real italian food.
No one in Italy make this kind of pasta; I first heard of it when I went to live in the US.
If you would like to know real italian recipes, just ask for it, I'm here :D