Mangia Italiano...

One of the most popular dishes in many Italian Restaurants is Alfredo...Tortellini Alfredo, Fettuccini Alfredo, Veal Alfredo, you get the picture.

Supposedly, Alfredo Sauce was made popular by Alfredo di Lelio, who ran Alfredo's restaurant in Rome around 1914. The first time I can remember eating it was as a 16 year old in Bologna, Italy. The cooking of Northern Italy is largely made up of cream sauces, as opposed to Southern Italy, where tomato sauce is the norm.

If you look at the map of Italy,

you will see the cities of Bologna and Milan closer to the top of the boot, the home to Parma (Parmesan Cheese) and Emilia Romana (Romano Cheese),
and you can see why cream and cheese would be a staple in their diet.

As you move down to the south, the weather is much warmer, and much more conducive to gardens and fresh vegetables like tomatoes, hence the tomato sauce, and tomato salads, and heavy use of vegetables and pasta combinations.

As my family was from Southern Italy, we never ate Alfredo when I was young. My Irish Aunt Edith was actually the one who first started to make "Noodles Alfredo" as she called it, when I was in my late teens. Hers was a very easy recipe, and very good, but a little thinner than what you would get in many restaurants. I still enjoy making it when I want a slightly lighter Alfredo Sauce.

Once you learn to make the basic Alfredo Sauce, you can pair it with whatever pasta you like.

Here is a recipe for a basic Alfredo Sauce that takes a few minutes to do. In fact, put up the salted water for whatever pasta you are making, and when it comes to a boil, and you throw in the pasta, you can start your sauce. The sauce will be ready when the pasta is...

Note: This recipe contains eggs which help thicken the sauce. If you don't like eggs or can't eat eggs, you can eliminate them but you may have to increase the amount of grating cheese to thicken the sauce.

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 - 1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1 stick of butter
2 cups of grating cheese ( you can use whatever type you prefer, Parmesan, Locatelli-Romano, Pecorino Romano)
4 egg yolks
Salt and pepper to taste

Separate the eggs, and place the yolks (you can save the whites for something else if you want) in a separate dish. Beat the yolks with a fork and set aside. Place the butter into a large saute or frying pan. Turn the heat on low and start to melt the butter. Add half of the first half pint of heavy cream to the egg yolks, and half of the heavy cream to the butter in the pan. Add the grating cheese to the butter and cream. Add salt (I use very little because the cheese is very salty, in fact, you can even eliminate the salt if you want to) and pepper to taste. Before the cheese/butter/cream mix gets very hot, add the egg/heavy cream mix to the pan (this will prevent the eggs from cooking into scrambled eggs. Whisk the sauce together to make sure the eggs don't scramble. Heat the sauce until is is hot and thickened, but do not bring it to a full boil. Keep the heat on very low until the pasta is cooked. Drain the pasta well, and add to the sauce and combine well. If you think the sauce is too thick, you can then add some of the cream from the second half pint. This makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta and will feed 4 as a main course and 6 as a side dish.

If you have Alfredo left over, you don't want to heat it in a microwave because the sauce will break down. Instead, use a double boiler if you have one, or make a makeshift double boiler by placing some hot water in the bottom sauce pan, place another saucepan on top of it and place the Alfredo in the top saucepan, adding some extra heavy cream (a few tablespoonfuls) to the pasta. Bring the water in the bottom pot to a boil and gently stir the pasta in the top pot until heated. The sauce should stay together and not break down this way.

This is what you will need for the recipe:


Alfredo Sauce

1/2 - 1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1 stick of butter
2 cups of grating cheese ( you can use whatever type you prefer, Parmesan, Locatelli-Romano, Pecorino Romano)
4 egg yolks
Salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with water


add salt (a good handful)


Turn on the heat and bring to a boil

Separate the eggs,
and place the yolks in a separate dish


Beat the yolks with a fork and set aside


Place the butter into a large saute or frying pan
Turn the heat on low and start to melt the butter


Add half of the first half pint of heavy cream to the egg yolks,


and the other half of the half pint of
heavy cream to the butter in the pan


Before the butter/cream mix gets very hot
add the egg/heavy cream mix to the pan
(this will prevent the eggs from cooking into scrambled eggs.)
Whisk or stir the sauce together to make
sure the eggs don't scramble


Add the grating cheese to the butter/cream/egg mix
Stir


Add pepper to taste



Add salt
(I use very little because the cheese is very salty, in fact,
you can even eliminate the salt if you want to)


Heat the sauce until it is smooth, hot and thickened,
but do not bring it to a full boil


Keep the heat on very low until the pasta is cooked

When the water boils, throw in the tortellini
or pasta of your choice


The tortellini usually float to the top
when they are done (but taste to be sure)


Drain the pasta well,


and add to the sauce


and stir to combine well


If you think the sauce is too thick,
you can then add some of the cream
from the second half pint, but usually the little residual
water from the pasta thins the sauce out enough

Place in a serving dish and enjoy!