Alfredo Sauce - Perfected Recipe Tips For Excellent Sauce

By Katherine Oosthuis

The recipe is fairly simple to follow and easy to make and always receives great praise.
You could buy Alfredo Sauce in a bottle in a store but it's much more fun to try yourself and
perfect you own version.

The basic Alfredo Sauce Recipe is a heated mix of butter, cream and Parmesan cheese. From this basic
recipe, many variations have arisen and optional seasonings added according to the taste of the cook.
Alfredo Sauce is also quite versatile and is especially good when used in Shrimp Alfredo Recipes as
well as over vegetables or left over chicken with sauted mushrooms.

As with most things in life, better quality ingredients will give a better result. Try to use the real cheese,
authentic Parmigiano Reggiano is ideal but ordinary Parmesan will do fine. The Fettuccini should ideally
be fresh (this cooks in about 2 minutes) but if you buy dry Fettuccine then try to get the thinnest available.

My authentic recipe below includes chicken and it goes so wonderfully with the Alfredo Sauce. It's one of my
favourite ways to serve chicken with pasta. I have tried to keep this recipe simple with as few variations
as possible. I love garlic so I just couldn't leave it out but you can if you prefer. There are some cooking
tips below the basic recipe that are worth considering before you start cooking.

• 3 skinless chicken breasts
  
• 2 Tbs olive oil
  
• 2 tsp crushed garlic (optional for sauteing chicken)
  
• 4 Tbs butter
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  
• 1 cup grated Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
  
• 8 oz Fettucine Pasta (or enough to feed 4 people)
  
• salt to your taste
  
• a little ground black pepper to bring out the taste
  
• a little sugar to taste
  
• dash of nutmeg (the secret to good Alfredo Sauce)

Cooking Instructions

The Fettucine

You first need to cook your pasta and I'm assuming that you know how to do so, so just follow the instructions on the fettuccini packet. When the fettuccine is cooked, drain it and set it aside.

The Alfredo Sauce

Melt the butter over a low heat in a pot that will be large enough to hold the pasta at the end of the cooking. Do not let it boil, just melted and warm is fine.

Slowly add the cream and stir with a spoon until it is hot but not boiling and has reduced slightly.

Now add the Parmesan cheese a little at a time and stir until it is all melted. The sauce may take quite a while to thicken, keep stirring and don't let it boil. Add the seasonings (including the sugar) according to your taste. If the parmesan is grated too course it will not melt in well. Grate the cheese as fine as possible for best results. The sauce can take a long time to reduce. Don't be tempted to add flour or cornstarch for thickening as it does alter the flavour.

The Chicken

While the Fettucine is cooking you can prepare the chicken breasts. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the chicken and garlic until the chicken juice runs clear and the chicken is done.

Once the Alfredo sauce is done, stir in the cooked chicken and then add the cooked pasta to the Alfredo and chicken.

Other Alfredo Sauce Ideas and Tips

• The basic Alfredo Sauce is very nice over vegetables like broccoli
  cauliflower and beans.
  
• Some cooks like to thicken the sauce by adding a 1/2 package of cream cheese.
  Try to avoid thickening with flour or cornstarch, it does spoil the flavour. You can
  also try adding more parmesan and cooking it for a little bit longer. Here I've discovered that patience is
  the key to success. If you hurry the sauce, you won't get the same results.
  
• Unsalted buttermakes a huge difference to the flavour. Using salted butter with the strong flavour of the parmesan can result in over-salty sauce and be unpleasant to eat.
  
• Now Nutmeg might seem like a strange addition but it does make a huge difference in the wow factor and in my opinion it's the secret ingredient.
  
• For something different saute bacon and mushrooms with crushed garlic and serve it with the Chicken and Alfredo sauce.
  

Do you often need inspiration for meal ideas? For more excellent Chicken Recipes and dinner ideas vist Great Chicken Recipes. My extensive section on chicken crockpot recipes is extremely popular but I try to cover all the other popular chicken recipes too.