Alfredo Sauce
1616kcal62.8g protein74.1g fat173.3g carbs*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
Contains gluten, dairy
Restrictions
Containsgluten · dairyIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.
Diets
VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
Servings:
| 1 lb | fettuccine |
| 3 l | water |
| 2 tbsp | salt (for the pasta water) |
| 8 tbsp | butter (unsalted, cut in cubes, softened) |
| 6 oz | Parmigiano-Reggiano (grated to a powder on a rasp) |
| ½ tsp | black pepper (coarsely ground) |
Optional
Not counted above. The dish works without them.
| ½ cup | heavy cream (enriched branch) |
| 1 pinch | nutmeg (freshly grated) |
| 1 clove | garlic (minced) |
Steps
- grate4 minrasp or finest holes, cold cheeseParmigiano-Reggiano grated until it looks like dry snow, not shreds — fine particles melt before their proteins have time to tighten and knot. Shredded or pre-grated cheese (which carries anti-caking starch and cellulose) is the single most common cause of a stringy, gritty sauce.
- boil11 min3 L water, salted, cooked 1 minute short of the box timefettuccine in less water than usual — the cooking water is an ingredient here, and a crowded pot gives you a starchier, more powerful liquid. Reserve 1 cup of that water before draining; it is the emulsifier and the only thing you cannot buy later.
- emulsify2 minwide pan, low heat, then off the burnerbutter + 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, swirling until the mixture goes opaque and slightly thickened rather than showing a separate yellow pool. Starch in the water coats the butter droplets and holds them suspended; if the butter looks clear and pooled, the emulsion has not formed yet and adding cheese now will guarantee clumps.
- toss2 minoff heat, pan tilted, tossing constantlydrained hot pasta + butter emulsion, tossing hard so every strand is coated and the pasta gives up its surface starch into the sauce. The residual heat of the pasta and pan is all the energy this sauce ever needs.
- emulsify3 minoff heat, cheese in three additions+ grated cheese, a third at a time, tossing until each addition disappears before the next goes in. Dumping it all at once drops the temperature unevenly and lets casein proteins fuse into a rubbery mass that no amount of stirring will undo. Loosen with the remaining pasta water a tablespoon or two at a time until the sauce ribbons off the spoon and clings glossy to the strands — then stop.
- season1 mintaste first+ black pepper and salt only if needed — six ounces of aged Parmigiano is already carrying most of the salt. Serve immediately: this sauce is stable for minutes, not hours, and reheating drives the fat back out. If it breaks on the way to the table, pull it off heat and toss in a splash of cold pasta water to bring it back.