Dublicate Fettuccine Alfredo

Name: Dublicate Fettuccine Alfredo
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 500 g fettuccine; 4 spring onions, chopped; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 tsp Dijon mustard; 1 L chicken or vegetable stock; 600 ml cream; 200 g grana padano or parmesan, grated (plus extra for serving); 500 g mushrooms, sliced; 80 g butter; ¼ cup parsley, chopped; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp pepper

I'm a sucker for creamy pasta dishes, especially ones that cook in one pot (one pot pastas = silkier sauce and less cleaning). This dinner is quick and easy to whip up but it tastes.

Ingredients

500 g fettuccine

4 spring onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 L chicken or vegetable stock

600 ml cream

200 g grana padano or parmesan, grated (plus extra for serving)

500 g mushrooms, sliced

80 g butter

¼ cup parsley, chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Directions

Cook the vegetables

1. Add half the butter to a large pot (or, if you're omitting the mushrooms, add the entire reduced amount of butter - see ingredient notes). Put the pot over medium heat until the butter is melted and lightly bubbling.

2. Add the spring onions and garlic, and saute until the spring onions have softened, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the rest of the butter and the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occassionally, until the mushrooms are softened.

Chopped spring onions and minced garlic sauteed until softened

Make the pasta sauce

1. Add the mustard, salt and pepper, and stir. Then add the stock and half the cream, and bring to a simmer.

2. Add the fettuccine and, for the first few minutes, move it around with a fork and use the fork to break up the pasta strands.

Tip: It's important to stir the pasta continuously for the first few minutes to avoid the pasta sticking together.

3. Cook the pasta at a simmer for about 20 minutes, until the pasta is al dente. Keep stirring the pasta occassionally and try to make sure that the pasta is mostly covered by the liquid. If the sauce becomes too dry, add a small amount of water.

Tip: Pasta cooked directly in a sauce rather than in boiling water will always take longer to cook than the instructions on the packet state. So it's important to taste the pasta toward the end of cooking so you know when it's 'al dente' (this translates to 'to the tooth', and means the pasta is softened but not soggy, and still has some texture when you bite into it).

4. Add the rest of the cream, parsley and cheese (reserving some for serving), and stir over low heat just until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. It may look like there's too much sauce, and that's a good thing! The sauce will thicken very quickly once the heat is turned off.

5. Serve, topped with reserved cheese and garnished with parsley.

To reheat: Can be refrigerated for a few days and reheated. It reheats best on the stovetop over low heat, with a few tablespoons of water added per serve.

Dublicate Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients Directions

About fettuccine alfredo

Could this be the ultimate comfort food? This easy fettuccine alfredo recipe delivers a restaurant-quality meal with just a handful of simple ingredients. Learn how to create a silky, creamy alfredo sauce from scratch that perfectly coats every strand of pasta. Whether it’s a busy weeknight or a cozy date night, this creamy pasta dish is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Full disclosure: this is not a traditional recipe for fettuccine alfredo. The traditional recipe was invented in Rome in the early 1900s and the sauce is made with only butter and cheese (a lot of both!). It was designed specifically to go with fettuccine pasta, hence the name 'fettuccine alfredo'.

Why? Because the fettuccine provides long, flat surface areas for the silky sauce to cling to. Yes, all pasta shapes were originally designed to go with a specific sauce!

Nowadays, there are a lot of recipe variations for alfredo sauce. It all started when the recipe first made its way to America, and the butter and cheese over there didn't have the same fat content as Italian varieties, so heavy cream was added to mimic the richness of the original dish. And then, over time, it became common to add other common sauce ingredients such as alliums (onions, shallots) and garlic. I personally love adding sliced mushrooms and a splash of Dijon mustard to this sauce.

My recipe was born not only from a desire to create the ultimate comfort food, but also to create a simple and foolproof process so you can enjoy this rich and decadent pasta anytime. Enter: my easy, one-pot fettuccine alfredo!

Ingredients for fettuccine alfredo

Despite the name, fettuccine alfredo, you can substitute the fettuccine with any other pasta you want or have at hand.

The cream and cheese are crucial in this dish to provide richness and flavour; so this is where you absolutely should not skimp. I will always use light cream when I can to save on a few calories, and while it will still technically work in this dish, you will sacrifice flavour. Butter also provides more flavour than oil, so I don't recommend substituting it.

You also want to ensure you have a good quality cheese; my preference is grana padano for its smooth, velvety richness and slight nuttiness. It can be substituted with similar cheeses if necessary, but try to stick to high-quality Italian cheeses such as parmigiano-reggiano or asiago.

Substitutions

Fettuccine - for any other pasta shape, just make sure you're using store-bought dried pasta and not fresh
Spring onions - for shallots or leek (I personally think regular onion would lend too strong a flavour)
Stock - I recommend using either chicken or vegetable stock, but you can use water instead (there'll just be slightly less flavour)
Grana padano cheese - while grana padano is my strong preference for the ultimate flavour, it can be substituted with similar Italian cheeses such as parmigiano-reggiano, parmesan or asiago. Gruyere is a non-Italian option that would also be a safe substitute.

Omissions

If it is your personal preference, you can easily omit the following ingredients:

Dijon mustard
Mushrooms (optionally, then, you could reduce the amount of butter by half since its primary purpose is cooking the mushrooms)
Spring onions
Garlic
Parsley

Additions

Mushrooms and Dijon mustard are my key additions to this recipe, and are already listed in the ingredients and directions. Here are some other tasty additions to consider:

Chicken (I buy a roast chicken and add the shredded meat to create a 'pollo e funghi' style pasta)
Chopped spinach
Cooked broccoli
Peas (add with about 5 minutes of cook time left and they'll cook right in the sauce)
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Sun-dried tomatoes
Cooked bacon or pancetta

For a bit of extra flavour and decoration, you can top this dish with some crispy prosciutto or jamon.

If you're serving this for guests and want to jazz it up, you can serve the pasta in cheesy cob loaves. It does make the meal extra decadent though, so I recommend no side dishes and small cob loaves (you'll get about 4 serves in small cob loaves).

How to prepare fettuccine alfredo

This recipe makes comfort food easy! It all cooks in one pot, making clean up a breeze.

Easy preparation

To ensure smooth sailing, measure out all of your ingredients before starting.

Chop the spring onions and garlic and combine these in the same bowl as they're added together.
Slice your mushrooms.
Measure out your butter (half can go in the bowl with your sliced mushrooms).
Grate your grana padano cheese.

You can even prepare these ingredients the day before; just cover with cling wrap and store in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking.

Tips for the best fettuccine alfredo

Cooking the pasta directly in the sauce ensures the end product is rich and silky due to the sauce absorbing the pasta's starch. One-pot pastas are not only for easy cleaning - they also improve the flavour and consistency of your sauce!
Don't skimp on the cream and cheese! Use heavy cream and a good-quality Italian cheese for the best flavour and results. Avoid packets of pre-grated cheese, but most delis will sell pre-grated grana padano or can grate it fresh for you.
Make sure you use dried, store-bought pasta instead of fresh.
Once you've added the pasta to the sauce, make sure you stir it frequently for the first few minutes with a fork. This is to prevent the pasta from sticking together. If you're using fettuccine or another long pasta, jab it with the fork to ensure the strands break apart. After the first 4-5 minutes, you don't need to stir it as frequently.
Ensure the majority of the pasta is covered by the sauce, and stir occasionally to ensure even cooking. If the sauce becomes too dry, add some water.
Don't follow packet instructions on how long to cook the pasta; because it's cooking directly in the sauce it will take longer, so you need to taste it toward the end of cooking until it's 'al dente' (softened, but still has some texture when you bite into it). You'll know when the pasta has the right texture for you!
It may look like there's too much sauce at the end of cooking, but it will thicken on standing - that's thanks to the pasta's starches being released throughout cooking. You can also add a little more water at the end of cooking to get your desired consistency.

Reheating fettuccine alfredo

Store leftover fettuccine alfredo in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Unlike most pastas, this doesn't reheat well in the microwave because the butter in the sauce can split and create an unappealing, clumpy and oily mess. The good news is that this reheats even better on the stove!

To reheat: Put the pasta into a pot, add a few tablespoons of water and gently reheat over low heat, stirring regularly until it reaches the desired temperature. If it looks too dry at any point, add more water (a few tablespoons at a time).

What to serve with fettuccine alfredo

Because this is a heavy dish, choose something light to go on the side. Or, pair with bread to mop up any leftover sauce!

Simple side salad
Garlic bread
Caprese bruschetta

Something sweet to finish off?

Although equally as decadent, I find the contrast of these chocolate lava cakes to be the perfect complement to the rich and creamy alfredo sauce.

Similar recipes to fettuccine alfredo

Here are some other rich and creamy pasta recipes you might like to try:

FAQs for Dublicate Fettuccine Alfredo

What's the best cheese to use?

Definitely a high-quality Italian cheese such as grana padano or parmigiano-reggiano. Freshly grate a wedge yourself, or ask your deli to do it for you (most delis already sell these freshly grated in tubs). Do not use a supermarket pack of shredded cheese – this can cause the sauce to go grainy, since pre-shredded cheese is coated in anti-caking agents to prevent it from sticking together in the bag.

Why has my sauce gone grainy?

This can happen if you use store-bought, pre-grated packet cheese instead of freshly grated. It can also happen if you cook the sauce over a high heat. So be sure to use fresh, quality ingredients and cook at low-medium heat only.

How do I make the sauce thicker?

The great thing about one-pot pastas is that the sauce is going to thicken naturally by absorbing the starch from the pasta as it cooks. You shouldn’t need to lift a hand to get a perfect, thick and glossy sauce!

See how this sauce is perfectly thickened and clings each strand of pasta with absolutely no effort!

If your sauce looks too thin at the end of cooking, note that it thickens quite a lot on standing. You can also cook for a few minutes longer which will thicken it as well.