Alfredo sauce is a type of cream sauce that was popularized in 1914 by the Alfredo restaurant in Rome. The earliest variations of this dish originally used only butter and parmesan cheese. But now, Alfredo sauce is famous as a smooth cream-based dish. Alfredo sauce is a versatile addition to pasta, chicken, and more. What's more, this alfredo sauce recipe uses only a few basic ingredients, and is ready to serve in just a few minutes!
Ingredients
Regular Alfredo Sauce
- 1 ml heavy cream
- 8 tbsp butter
- 220 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Water used to cook pasta (to thin the sauce)
Recipe Variations (As Described Below)
- 1-2 cloves of garlic (crushed, crushed, or chopped)
- Grated lemon rind from 1/2 lemon
- Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
- 80 ml white wine
- 240 ml low-fat plain yogurt
- Nutmeg (for taste)
Step
Method 1 of 2: Regular Alfredo Sauce
Step 1. Melt the butter
Place the butter in a standard saucepan, and heat on the stovetop over low-medium heat. Your goal is to heat the sauce until it is warm and has a smooth consistency. Heating with a low temperature is the best way. This process requires patience.
Step 2. Add cream and parmesan cheese and mix well
Stir gently while adding the ingredients, so they don't burn or stick to the pan. Keep stirring until well blended.
If you can, use freshly grated parmesan cheese. The difference in the taste of the sauce is very pronounced when compared to the sauce that uses parmesan cheese that has been grated for a long time. Freshly grated cheese also tends to be less prone to "clumping". Read the explanation below.
Step 3. Heat to a slow boil
Wait for the sauce to simmer slowly; only until a few small bubbles form. At this point, start to slowly stir the sauce until it thickens. The sauce usually takes 8 minutes to thicken.
Don't be tempted to raise the flames. Reduce the heat if the sauce starts to boil quickly; because doing so will not only burn the sauce and taste bitter-it can also cause cheese "clot". If you heat it too quickly, the protein content in the cheese clumps up instead of breaking down slowly. As a result, the fat and moisture separate from the cheese, leaving behind a hard lump that cannot be melted.
Step 4. Add salt and pepper so that the alfredo sauce tastes good
The sauce is ready to be seasoned when it reaches a nice thick consistency. You can use any seasoning you like, but salt and pepper alone is good enough. Stir the sauce until the spices are evenly mixed after adding.
A few shakes or pinches of each spice will suffice. If you're worried that you're adding too much, try adding just a pinch of the seasoning, then stirring and tasting the sauce. Repeat until the sauce tastes perfect
Step 5. Alternatively, use water from cooking pasta to thin the sauce
If you still have water from cooking pasta, use it to thin a sauce that's too thick and rich. The water has a little bit of pasta flavor, so the sauce will have a nice “bread-like” taste and become thinner.
If you accidentally pour too much water, simmer gently until the sauce thickens again
Step 6. Serve
When the sauce is just the way you want it, serve it. Spoon the steaming sauce over your favorite pasta. The recipe in this section makes six servings.
Alternatively, try using this sauce to give your favorite meat and vegetable dishes a creamy taste, including chicken, shrimp, broccoli, and others. The sauce's mild flavor makes it extremely versatile, so it can be used in almost any entrée dish
Method 2 of 2: Recipe Variations
This section offers some ideas for seasoning the regular alfredo sauce on top. You can use any combination of the tricks below, or none at all. Up to you!
Step 1. Try adding a few cloves of garlic
The aroma and sweetness of garlic is the perfect complement to perfect Alfredo's cream sauce. While melting the butter, chop a clove or two of garlic. Then, boil it in the butter for about a minute before adding the rest of the ingredients. This will allow the garlic's natural taste and aroma to mix into the sauce. Let the garlic remain in the sauce while serving.
Step 2. Try adding white wine
The slightly tart sweetness of most white wines adds a subtle dimension to a simple alfredo sauce recipe. Gently mix 80 ml of white wine into the sauce just before you add the salt and pepper. The sauce may need to be simmered a little longer for it to thicken again once the white wine is added.
Most white wines can be used. The fresh, crunchy taste of chardonnay, for example, will enhance the smooth texture of the sauce. Don't use the wine usually served with dessert, such as moscato wine, because it's too sweet
Step 3. Try adding a little lemon to make an alfredo sauce with a hint of citrus
The sour taste of lemon water "weakens" the fat content in Alfredo's sauce. The interactions between all these flavors may be sharp, but they are delicious. To add a citrus flavor to Alfredo's sauce, cut a lemon in half while waiting for the sauce to simmer slowly. Use a fine grater or a microplane to grate the lemon peel into small piles of fine grater. Once the sauce thickens, add the grated. Then, squeeze the lemon juice, from half the lemon, into the sauce. Stir well.
Squeeze the lemons into the sauce through a sieve to prevent any of the lemon seeds from getting into the sauce
Step 4. Try adding a small pinch of nutmeg
Nutmeg may not be the first condiment you think of as a great addition to Alfredo's cream sauce. However, in small amounts, nutmeg can increase the taste and aroma of Alfredo sauce. Try mixing in a small pinch of nutmeg (no more than 1/4 tsp) when adding the parmesan cheese. If you like the result, you can keep adding small amounts of the seasoning until you get the flavor you want.
Step 5. Use yogurt, instead of heavy cream, to make a low-calorie sauce
Alfredo sauce is delicious, but a quick glance at the ingredients list will reveal that it is calorie-dense and high in fat. Try substituting heavy cream for low-fat plain yogurt in an amount equal to the amount of heavy cream listed in a normal recipe. Greek yogurt can also be used. The sauce will still be rich in flavour, but not as rich as the regular version.
- The yogurt will also give the sauce a slightly "crispy" taste (similar to stroganoff sauce). Some people prefer Alfredo's sauce that way.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of flour to the sauce along with the yogurt. Yogurt can clump when exposed to high heat, but flour tends to prevent this clumping.
Step 6. Try using only butter and cheese for a traditional variation
The earliest versions of modern alfredo sauce used only two ingredients: cheese and butter. When melted and mixed, the two ingredients form a smooth and rich golden mixture that coats the pasta evenly. This version of the sauce is quite simple, yet healthy and delicious. If you want to experiment with traditional flavors, you don't need to add the cream, water, and spices listed in the recipe above. Also, double the amount of cheese and butter used to make the same amount of sauce as in the regular recipe.
For a more original taste, use fresh unsalted butter. Before storing in the refrigerator, mix salt into the butter to make it last longer. If you want to make a delicious Alfredo sauce, use fresh unsalted butter; because it doesn't last long
Tips
- Don't forget to keep stirring the sauce. Forgetting to stir can cause the sauce to stick to the sides of the pan, as well as produce a bitter and unpleasant taste.
- Other vegetables that go well with regular alfredo sauce include basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach.
- Can't leave the tomatoes? Try making tomato alfredo sauce (or “pink sauce”) by mixing equal amounts of alfredo sauce with your favorite red sauce. You can use canned tomatoes or make your own red sauce from fresh tomatoes-it's up to you.
