I usually start making dinner once I am already hungry, so I like to make food that is quick, uses very few pots and has very few ingredients. I also love to eat alfredo sauce. Until recently I didn't think it was possible to have both...
That is, until I learned that the alfredo we get on our pasta in restaurants these days isn't actually the original version of the sauce, and that the original version... only has two ingredients!
Here is a super simple way to make this sauce for any pasta you are making. It doesn't take any extra pots and it only needs a few ingredients. You can also customize this sauce very easily for whatever taste you like.
What You Need:
- Pasta of choice (I used spaghetti here because that's all we had, but of course fettuccine would be best.)
- Cheese of choice (Traditionally this sauce uses parmigiana, but I've also used cheeses like pepper jack when that's all I had.)
- A couple tablespoons of butter
- Seasoning of choice (I like to keep it simple, with some salt, pepper and basil.)
- Any add-ins you like (As you can see in the picture above, I used fresh spinach.)
What To Do:
Cook your pasta al dente (it will continue cooking while making the sauce). Scoop out a cup of the starchy pasta water and set aside. Strain your pasta (but don't worry about shaking out excess water, you want the water). Return the pasta to your original pot, and put it on your burner on the lowest heat possible. Add the butter and a little bit of the pasta water. Begin adding your cheese of choice, and toss the pasta until it is coated. You will want to add cheese slowly so that it is able to melt properly. If the cheese is melting too thick and you want more sauce, add some more pasta water, then add more cheese.
Now your sauce is done! Go ahead and add any add-ins or seasoning you like. Just remember that with most cheeses you won't want to add very much salt. (That's why it's good to wait on seasoning until the end.)
Wasn't that easy?
