Tasty Tuesday ~ Easy Fettuccine Alfredo

With the kids home for Presidents' Day Monday, it was a great time to let the daughter do some cooking. I'm really enjoying seeing my 15 year old creating in the kitchen. It opens up great time for conversation and mentoring as we choose our spices, drizzle oil, chop what we have, deal with messes (food and life) and combine food groups. So much of life happens in the kitchen and is drawn together by the food we share. Today I want to share Jo's easy Fettuccine Alfredo from our Presidents' Day dinner!

For this recipe we began with a basic fettuccine recipe from "A Quilter's Christmas Cookbook" and tweaked it to become our own. Here's what we came up with:

Fettuccine Alfredo

• 1 1/3 c. milk (choose skim if you want to lighten it)
• 3 t. minced garlic from a jar (or about 2 cloves minced if fresh)
• 2 T. flour
• 3 T. cream cheese (we use fat-free, and it's just as awesome as the bad way)
• 1 c. grated hard cheese mixture of parmesan, asiago (the "real" stuff is so worth it)
• 5 t. butter (or a butter substitute if you're going the light route)
• 4 cups cooked fettuccine (About 12 ounces dry ... I don't like mine too al dente. Cook it!)
• 1 t. Italian seasoning (who really wants to spend $ for parsley in the winter?)
  
• 1/8 t. cracked pepper and a few shakes of salt (easy on the salt ... bad for your heart)

Over medium heat in a saucepan whisk together milk, garlic and flour until combined. Add the cream cheese, bringing all to a boil (don't stop whisking!), and then lower the heat and let it simmer until it's thickened to where you could drink it, but not scoop it. :)

The constant whisking motion is using up calories to make you feel better if you DON'T use the light options. :) (You may want to drink the sauce) Stir in the shredded cheese and whisk it in until melted. Now sprinkle in the spices. You don't want them in the sauce long, as they'll become stronger, and you don't want them competing with the garlic and cream and cheese joy that is center stage.

Remove sauce from heat and whisk in the butter. Pour this decadent, creamy white sauce over the hot pasta. You can grind a little pepper on top if you want to or just enjoy the pure white of the sauce. Stand back and enjoy the oohs and aahs from your impressed hungry people. This really is pretty.

Ok, here is where I admit that we went from "Wow this is good" to "Oh I love this."

We added about a pound of sauteed medium shrimp that we stir -fried separately in extra virgin olive oil (about 2 T), garlic, a tiny bit of salt, and cracked pepper. We piled the shrimp on top and called it dinner while we talked about going to the beach. Perfect.

The daughter? She's a chef! So why plan on saving for my room at a nursing home, when I can have Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp brought to my recliner? ;)

I wonder if George Washington had it this good. I'm glad we had no school today in his honor (in part). Happy Presidents' Day!

Participating in the inspiration Jen provides at Tasty Tuesdays and from Lisa back home in Texas at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday! Thanks for making our tables a lot more hospitable. :)