Me and Al, we go way back. However, Al is...ahem...a bit fattening, making it something I don't indulge in all the time. The problem though, I love Alfredo sauce; the creaminess, the richness, it's just good comfort food.
So I did a little a searching for a lighter Alfredo sauce (don't laugh) and came across one developed by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. She is widely regarded as the first lady of Italian cuisine, an acclaimed chef and restaurateur. She of course has a fabulous fettuccine Alfredo recipe with all the heavy cream and egg yolks you could want. However, she does explain how to make a lighter Alfredo sauce, one that can be indulged in more often.
The key to a great Alfredo is organization and timing and of course cooking the pasta properly.
Pasta needs lots of water, for 1/2 pound of pasta, as in this recipe, you need 3 quarts of water. And don't ever add oil to the water, it makes your sauce slip right off. For maximum flavor, add the pasta directly from the boiling water to the cooking sauce and simmer together for a few minutes. The pasta will absorb some of the sauce and will intensify in flavor.
Now, as far as making a lower-fat version of Alfredo, the method is similar to regular Alfredo while the ingredients are different. There is no cream or egg yolks but instead an unlikely character takes center stage, ricotta cheese.
When cheese is made, the by-product is whey. When heated, the whey becomes a nutritious, low-fat liquid known as ricotta. I wish I could get my hands on Italian ricotta made from sheep, buffalo or goat's milk. It is a drier cheese with a nuttier flavor in comparison to its American counterpart made usually from cow's milk with a more bland flavor.
I was worried the sauce would be grainy but when blended with milk and chicken broth it works. Finely grated Parmesan helps thicken the sauce as well.
Overall, it was a good substitute for the much richer version of Fettuccine Alfredo however, it still clocks in at 15 grams of fat per serving. If you think that's bad, just imagine the calories in the full-fat version.
Fettuccine Alfredo,a lighter version
Adapted from Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
8 ounces dried fettuccine
1 cup part-skim ricotta
2/3 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (not shredded)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup scallion, chopped (optional)
Boil salted water for the pasta over high heat and cook the pasta al dente. (How do you know it's al dente? Cut a piece, if you see a small, white dot in the center, it's perfect.)
Blend the ricotta, milk and chicken broth in a blender until smooth. Set aside.
Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the ricotta mixture to the pan before the butter is completely melted. Simmer 2-3 minutes.
Add pasta taken directly from the pasta water to the sauté pan. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring to coat. Cook until the sauce is reduced to a thick, creamy consistency. However, don't over do it, longer and your sauce could get grainy.
Remove from heat and sprinkle with grated cheese and season to your liking with salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss and serve.
Scallions gives it a nice color and a bit of flavor.
Serve immediately.
Cathy is currently in the development stages of her vineyard and winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. She is a food writer for Davis Life Magazine and blogs daily about wine, food and everyday living. She lives with her husband and two sons. You can visit her at noblepig.com.