Alfredo Sauce

I love pasta, and sometimes I live to take a break from marinara or tomato-based sauces and have a white sauce.  I have played around with this recipe a little, and tonight I think I finally got it how I like it.  I served this tonight with shrimp over linguine, but you could use chicken or keep it meatless, and serve it over a variety of pasta noodles, fettuccini, linguine, small shells, etc, and even add a vegetable like broccoli.  Or, you could serve it over just chicken and vegetables too, leaving out the pasta.  I had problems previously getting this to really thicken, so tonight I added in flour, which got it how I wanted it.  If you want to keep this gluten-free, you can use a GF flour or cornstarch, it’s really just to help thicken the sauce.  You can also leave the flour out, I just find it’s a little runnier than I like.

Alfredo Sauce

What you need:

2 Tbsp butter
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour, or gluten-free flour, or cornstarch
1 pint half-and-half
12 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 Tbsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium low heat.  Add in garlic and cook until garlic is just beginning to brown.  Add in flour and cook for 3-5 minutes, forming a roux.  Pour in the half-and-half, stirring constantly, to make sure the roux is fully mixed in and not lumpy.  Add the Parmesan cheese one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly.  Mix in parsley, salt, and pepper.  Continue to stir frequently until sauce thickens.  Serve as desired.

Shrimp Linguine Alfredo variation:

Cook 1 pound linguine according to package directions for al dente.  Drain, and set aside.  Meanwhile, make sauce as above.  After sauce thickens, add in 1 pound fully cooked, peeled, and de-veined shrimp.  Stir and cook just until shrimp turn pink.  Combine the sauce and shrimp with the cooked noodles.  Serve.

Chicken Broccoli Fettuccini variation:

Cook 1 pound fettucini according to package directions for al dente.  Drain, and set aside.  Meanwhile, make sauce as above.  After sauce thickens, add in 1 pound fully cooked, cubed or shredded chicken and 1/2 lb steamed broccoli.  Stir and cook a few minutes.  Combine with pasta and serve.

Tags: dinner, gluten-free