Alfredo sauce is a culinary classic. One of those miracles that happens in the kitchen when a deliciously sophisticated dish is made with a limited number of simple ingredients. Creamy, velvety, thick alfredo sauce can ennoble many dishes.
The history of alfredo sauce
Great Alfredo sauce has a very romantic story. In the eternal, beautiful city of Rome, the restaurateur Alfredo Di Lelio lived. In 1920, his wife became pregnant, despite this, began to rapidly lose weight. Alfredo needed to feed her something that was both nutritious, safe for the unborn baby and, of course, very, very tasty. So a dish was invented, which consisted of hot, wide fettuccine pasta, heavy cream, piquant Parmesan, a lot of butter and a pinch of freshly ground pepper, which gives the dish an extra light spiciness.
Fettuccine alfredo became world famous thanks to the silent film stars - Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. This sultry couple visited Alfredo's restaurant during their honeymoon in Rome, and they liked the dish so much that they found out the recipe from the creator and took him with them to Hollywood, where they began to feed numerous friends with Alfredo sauce. They even ordered a gold cutlery - a fork and a spoon - engraved with their names on the handles and presented them to the restaurateur as a sign of appreciation for the recipe. The press could not pass by such an event, and now the army of fans wanted to know what their idols eat like that.
Over time, Alfredo sauce began to be served not only with fettuccine, but also with other types of smooth, long pasta, as well as with other dishes, including boiled vegetables, shrimps, Alfredo pizza and the chicken of the same name became popular.
How to make alfredo sauce
To make the famous sauce, you will need:
- 2 tablespoons of butter;
- 1 cup of cream with a fat content of at least 22%;
- ½ cup grated Parmesan;
- salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Be careful not to brown the butter, as one of the hallmarks of a good alfredo sauce is its beautiful, creamy white color.
Carefully pour the cream into the saucepan in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Season with fine salt and pepper. While continuing to stir, turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3-5 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken.
Remove the sauce from the heat and add the cheese with constant stirring. It is very important that the saucepan does not heat up while adding the cheese, because it should melt in the sauce, becoming tender and enveloping, and too high a temperature will make it stringy, rubbery. When all the cheese has melted, the sauce should be removed from the heat. You can combine it with hot pasta or use it otherwise.
