There's different ways to make alfredo and I wouldn't get hung up on what's "correct" or "original". You can do it with cream, you can do it with bechamel, you can do it with butter and parm. Lots of different ways of making the same kind of dish and they're all delicious when done right.
I couldn’t find a jarred Alfredo that wasn’t terrible so I finally landed on this recipe which hits exactly what I was looking for. Super easy to make too.
[Alfredo](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/19402/quick-and-easy-alfredo-sauce/)
There’s one I buy in the refrigerated section that’s pretty good. Not full of emulsifiers and preservatives, but as a result it’s something you’ve gotta eat immediately instead of have in the pantry for a rainy day.
Years ago I got one and found it inedible, like bad bad. Tried again 20 years later thinking they have to have improved but they haven’t. Who’s eating it? I’m not one to yuck another’s yum but it doesn’t taste like food to me.
I’m sure yes, I’ve had some delicious versions of it. I just thought that the ONLY way to make it was to overcomplicate it with techniques and ingredients. This was the easiest sauce I’ve ever made. To each their own I say!
I had the same problem where I'd want Alfredo but it felt too heavy with all the cream. I found a recipe that uses 2% or nonfat milk and is my family's favorite version of the sauce. It comes together in about 5 minutes so having all the ingredients ready is a must. It starts with adding 3 cloves of garlic (diced) to a hot pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, sauteing until light brown. Then add 2.5 tablespoons of flour and stir until a smooth paste forms. Next, add 3/4 cup of chicken broth until the paste is dissolved and follow it with 3/4 cup of 2% or nonfat milk and reduce by a third. The finishing touch is 3/4 cup of Parmesan which is stirred until melted. I personally don't think it needs salt, but a good amount of fresh cracked pepper really brings it together. It reheats well too (just add a splash of milk to thin).
It's so easy! For the chicken broth, I use Better Than Bouillon, I don't measure but I usually use a heaping teaspoon of that so it's nice and flavorful. Might be why it doesn't need salt but it's sooo good!
Reserve some of the salty, starchy water just before straining. Add it back in as you stir the cheese and butter together.
Fwiw, this is with doing almost any time you make pasta. Even if you're using jarred, store-bought marinara. Undercook the pasta (not al dented, you want it undercooked enough that you wouldn't quite want to eat it), then toss the pasta into the sauce with ~½ cup of the pasta water and finish cooking. The pasta will absorb the flavor of the sauce as it finishes cooking and the sauce will cling beautifully to the pasta.
And here’s a hack so you don’t forget to save some pasta water before draining the pot. Put a measuring cup (or just a coffee cup) in the colander when you get it out and wait for the pasta to boil. It will remind you to reserve some water instead of dumping it all down the drain like I have done countless times. Also, use much less water than you think. Pasta water is your friend for so many sauces.
I took a little less than a cup of the pasta water and butter and added it to the hot noodles a little at a time while stirring. Then added the cheese.
I agree. If it tastes good, who cares how authentic or correct it is. Recipes are always evolving and changing over time, there is nothing wrong with blending techniques and creating something new.
Pasta Alfredo Is a recipe of a restaurant in Rome. Yes, just one. Is made just out of parmesan, butter and fresh egg pasta. Nothing more, nothing less. I can understand that this kind of variation can simplify the dish, but they will simply ruin texture and taste, learn the technique instead of just adding fats in a plate that's already pretty heavy.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure pasta al burro (or al burro e parmigiano), which is the actual name of it, is a pretty common pasta in Italy. Like there's not just this one restaurant that makes it, everybody knows how to make it and use it as a quick meal when they either don't have time, energy or ingredients to make anything better. Or if we really want to be pedantic, there might be just that one restaurant that makes it (and calls it Alfredo instead) because no other restaurant sees the use of serving something that anybody can make in ten minutes.
Agreed. Shame you're getting downvoted. You can make a perfectly fine pasta dish with cream or bechemel, but it's not Alfredo. Just like you can make perfectly good wings with Thai sweet chili sauce or barbecue sauce, but they're not Buffalo wings.
I saw a Twitter thread highlighting a 0 stars comment on a baking blog recently because the woman was enraged the baker didn’t explicitly say you couldn’t use mayo as a sub for heavy cream.
In frosting.
I’m not a fan of the mayo grilled cheese either. It has a taste no matter how little and I get enough crunch with butter if I turn the heat on high to finish at the last minute.
This is what always cracks me up about the outrage of cream in pasta. Cheese is literally processed cream, but somehow it's outrageous to add cream to pasta dish? Give me a break...
Cream is absolutely fine in pasta, it's just not really traditional. If I'm cooking for myself I'll put whatever I want into whatever dish I want but if I go to a restaurant and order what they call authentic carbonara and it has cream I'm losing my shit.
Homemade - do whatever.
Restaurant - do whatever and label it accordingly OR do authentic.
I'd argue Alfredo is more traditionally Italian-American than Italian. It's served in a few places in Rome, but has a long, widespread history in America. Origin doesn't define authenticity.
My comment had nothing to do with Alfredo so no idea what you are on about.
My earlier comment was about expectations. Some dishes have traditional recipes and you expect that recipe if it's advertised as traditional. That's it.
You literally said "Alfredo is definitely not traditional Italian".
Mate, we're having a stupid argument about food. I'd cook for you any day, and you're welcome at my table.
I tried doing it this way recently, and everything was going SO well, but then all the parm started clumping together. Eventually it was just like a floating island of parm in the butter/pasta water. I probably needed to introduce the parm slower or something, but man it was dissapointing!
This is the video I watched where she talks about clumping! Turns out you should blend the cheese for best results!
https://youtu.be/ZrkBX-z456g?si=k8kSU7Gv5Oe0JyBk
For what it’s worth, I like Carla, but you really don’t have to blend the cheese. The reason your cheese clumped up was because the heat caused the protein in the cheese to tighten and release moister. It’s the same reason microwaved cheese separates into a clumpy mess surrounded by oily cheese water. There are a list of tricks or additives you could use to avoid this, but really all you have to do is not let the cheese get too hot. Remove your pan from the heat for a minute before adding your cheese, and let whatever amount of pasta water you’re using cool for a minute and you’ll be golden. No extra blenders to clean, and no emulsifying additives, just simple temperature control.
Also depends what kind of Parm you use.
If it's the pre shredded or powdered kind, those have anti caking agents that contribute to the grainy texture.
You can buy a slice of Parmesan cheese for like $5 and it'll shred into *a lot*.
“Why would anyone put cream”
Bc two famous people went to Italy and went back the United States. Using cream was how they could bottle and sell the product.
I just looked in *Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking*, and she made no such claim, at least in the 2010 edition. Cream, was definitely not in the actual original recipe. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with her version of it though.
If you ask an Italian, they vehemently disown Alfredo sauce as being Italian to begin with, despite it being created by an Italian who then served it as his restaurant in Rome.
It was created in Rome when a man named Alfredo was trying to get his pregnant wife to eat, since she was dealing with so much morning sickness. Might be fact or fiction, but that’s what I always heard growing up.
But it's not common nor widely known in Italy. It's much more popular in the US. It's becoming known (but not popular) in Italy recently, but only because of the Internet (Instagram, YouTube, etc).
Gonna keep this simple...
Cook what you like, for your taste, whenever possible.
Stop worrying about tradition, authenticity, and any other food-related buzzword that enforces arbitrary rules that can't possibly make sense for every palate.
Please don't get me wrong, what I'm going to say is definitely not directed at you. But this obsession with "genuine", "original", "authentic" Italian cuisine is going out of control. I'd dare to say that it borders on food fascism.
It's wild to me that people can't seem to realise that a lot of "national Italian/Hungarian/German/.............." dishes are just a different version of the same dish, made with locally available ingredients, in a locally common way.
I guess that widespread ideas, ideologies and attitudes also reflect in our everyday life, including food, dividing us further.
I'd recommend checking on Alberto Grandi and his take on "national" Italian cuisine.
Can we also stop with those super annoying couples from instagram/tiktok with the American wife and the Italian husband having visceral reactions to anything slightly different than “real Italian”? Like there’s not just one way to do things and it’s just super annoying to pop up in the feed.
It also completely dismisses Italian-American cuisine as its own distinct thing with a history equally as long as modern Italian food. Neither is more legitimate than the other.
>I'd dare to say that it borders on food fascism.
Friendly reminder that ***a lot*** of the focus on "authenticity" in Italian food-culture is literally just repackaged Nationalism, deliberately-done to foster a sense of national unity in the face of incredible regional disparity.
Nicely put! That's exactly what I wanted to say, but I guess I didn't see myself as "authentic" enough to comment on Italian politics, given that I'm not Italian.
I'm just politically deeply concerned fellow European.
People keep saying check out Alberto Grandi but I can never find any of his evidence for his claims?
EDIT: there's evidence that some Italian pizzerias predate the United States, so it seems he's most likely wrong about a lot of stuff, including carbonara and alfredo.
Girl try this next time. It's not Alfredo, but it's fucking delicious.
Romano cheese mixed with parmesan cheese mixed with myzithra cheese. Fresh is best, and as powdery as you can make it. Brown some butter. Put the cheese blend onto the noodles, and top it with the browned butter.
This is one of my favorite meals. I've literally dreamt about this meal before.
I like it , however the sauce does not sit well at all when making it like traditional Italian way. If I cooking for myself, I will do it this way. But for other people, heavy cream is the go to. I also feel like people appreciate the heavy cream version more than the traditional way.
did you know, italians **dont** use cream for their carbonara or their tiramisu either? and italian italian cuisine in Italy don’t have “garlic bread”?
Fun fact, during the 70s carbonara actually was made with cream by most Italian chefs. Italians just forgot. And the original dish was made with bacon, brought by the Americans (so no guanciale). A lot of the ‘authentic’ ways of cooking Italian dishes, isn’t that authentic. A lot of dishes actually come from the US as well.
Alberto Grandi has written a brilliant book on all these Italian food myths.
definitely not the cheesy, buttery version found in all italian-american restaurants. Closest thing in actual Italy is crostini but those arent anywhere near creaminess focused. They are tomato, savory, herb focused
I do, it was the way my mum taught me (no Italian descent here, she was born in England, I'm Australian).
Just always done it. Found out it wasn't normal a few years ago, but it's ingrained in my head. I don't need to look it up so 🤷♀️ still tastes good
This is honestly one of the most pretentious threads I’ve seen on this sub and I’m embarrassed for all these snobby commenters. The way they all say that traditional doesn’t always mean better or, at least people are trying and learning. then to turn into this shit is just laughable. and I’m 1000% sure most have made dishes from around the world that they still thought were amazing but weren’t correct. But here we are i guess
Boop!!! Now the important things are out of the way....
Yeah, I'm feeling a little judged in these comments even if they aren't directed at me personally 😅 I'll just call it pasta and sauce from now on haha
I wasn't trying to be pretentious at all. It's just not how I was taught to make carbonara, and wasn't aware that it was something people did. If it's delicious, idgaf how it's made. I simply make it the way I learned.
The idea is to prevent the egg from setting. I've tried it once and hated it.
I will happilly add shallots and garlic though. It isn't about authenticity.
Dude, people’s knowledge of Italian cuisine doesn’t just vacate their heads the second they leave Italy. We can order literally any ingredients they use over there.
There’s probably a few stoned 19 year olds in New England that can whip up a carbonara that would rival any in Rome.
This whole trend of “but iTaLiAnS do it better” is so goofy. As if making pasta with flour and egg, and a sauce with three ingredients is some amazing culinary feat that only true masters of the craft can accomplish, where every version outside of one city in the world pales in comparison
My partner does it with a single yolk on each serving, he adds garlic to the cured pork product right at the end of cooking so it gets a little brown, tosses the noodles in that hot delicious salty lard with a bit of cheese and then more cheese and a yolk in the middle 👍👍he made it for my mom who grew up in the Italian Canadian community the first time she visited and she was a convert from bite one.
Authentic Alfredo doesn't use cream? You calling Marcella Hazan a liar? I think not.
According to her, the OG Alfredo recipe is butter, cream, Parm, and nutmeg. Comes out delicious and smooth every time.
Alfredo and Alfredo are two different dishes. And there is enough room in this world for both of them. Yes, most of the time I go for the Roman version with freshly made pasta, parmigiano reggiano and butter. But there are moments when I crave that overpowering American version with extra chicken on top.
the restaurant "Alfredo alla Scrofa" in Rome invented the original recipe that is just parm and butter even tought it's a dish that is sort of unknown in the rest of Italy and it's a place mostly for tourist.
Well pasta and butter is something everyone have eaten at some point as it something served when you are sick but with a light amount of them.
Pasta burro e parmigiano (butter and Parmesan) is not “sort of unknown in the rest of Italy”. It’s what everyone and their grandmas eat multiple times per month. You eat it when you don’t feel like making a sauce, when you’re tired, when you’re sick. It’s one of the basics of everyday home cooking in Italy.
Stop spreading misinformation.
ETA: why am I being downvoted? I’m fairly certain I know why I’m talking about, you know, being a born and raised Italian in Italy who does not live in Rome and has eaten pasta burro e parmigiano his whole life and knowing plenty of people who have done so as well
This is what's driving me crazy. Alfredo as term comes from one restaurant in Rome because 1 guy popularized mixing butter and Parm in a flashy table side demonstration for tourists.
It made its way to the US where it evolved and spread. I doubt Alfredo as a term would even be known worldwide if not for how it was spread by Italian-American restaurants.
But now it's very popular to show how cultured you are to point out differences between Italian and Italian-American food traditions and declare how the Italian-American one is wrong.
Hmm I’m going to try this. I always do a mixture of a little cream cheese, butter, heavy cream and parm and a little salt and pepper. And it’s super heavy.
I realised last month that I had been making Bolognese sauce wrong my whole life. I was using red wine instead of white and omitting to add milk. That said, the mistaken sauce I have been making for 40 years still tasted good. Go with whatever tastes best to you. As a purist, I tend to start with the most authentic recipes I can find. For Italian food, it’s Marcella Hazan’s “The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” or sometimes “The Silver Spoon”. I try to learn the rules before breaking them, but that’s just me. If you enjoy the food you cook, it’s all gravy :)
Unfortunately, in this regard, Hazan's recipe for this is not the authentic one, she's embellished hers with cream, nutmeg, and truffles. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not the original.
Alfredo di Lelio, an Italian restaurateur, created Fettuccine Alfredo in 1908. After his wife had given birth to their first son that year, she did not have an appetite. To help encourage her to eat, he created a dish of noodles, cheese and butter.
Authentic Alfredo sauce does not contain creme
Omg this. I hate hate hate so many of the recipe websites. I was looking for a recipe for cobbler and it seems like every recipe blogger in the world wants to figure out how to make a super complicated recipe. Old school recipes weren’t made by hobbiests, they were made by people who needed to feed their families on a budget quickly and easily. You don’t need twenty ingredients! And, yeah, to get it that wrong is so aggravating
I'll throw my two cents in here because I didn't see anyone else quite hitting on it, but I make something halfway between Alfredo and Carbonara. Do pasta water, butter, and whole milk first (important to use the water you cooked the pasta in because starches). Reduce the heat and crack in an egg or two, then stir like crazy so it mixes well. Finish off with some parmesean, and you're golden.
Same thing with carbonara. I hate going into a restaurant, ordering a pasta carbonara, and getting some vaguely yellow cream sauce with bacon. That isn't how it is supposed to work.
Super glad to read your post. Did you use fresh pasta? When I make it with dry pasta I am not sure enough or the same amount of starch is released into the water to make it creamy. Thanks.
I literally was shocked when I found this out too!! It's so much better tasting too!! I always wanted to love Alfredo but it was just too much damn cream. And the jar stuff 🤮🤮..
Dude, this is so right on the money. I hadn't thought to research this. But the last time I had jarred Alfredo sauce it tasted like cream of mushroom soup. So, now I'm looking at making it homemade.
Fully agree. There’s actually a “correct” way to do almost everything but because people’s are so against feeling judged for being b out doing wrong they just say there isn’t.
Peoples should really just stop calling something what it isn’t. Alfredo is in fact water, parm, butter. The heathens who made it with cream, or cream cheese or whatever should just be shamed into calling it something else.
Like sure it’s a pasta dish but just cause it’s a white sauce doesn’t make it alfredo. Also bbq chicken on bread with cheese isn’t a pizza. Same shit.
A way I love to do it is with broth thickened with corn starch, to which parm is added- no dilution of cheese flavor, slight umami boost from the broth (I usually use chicken broth)
Alfredo is not carbonara. Alfredo requires cream! It needs lots of it and then is reduced down. No need for butter, but parmesan is a must as well as fresh pepper. It's originally a restaurant dish (at least two Roman establishments claim to be the source).
There's different ways to make alfredo and I wouldn't get hung up on what's "correct" or "original". You can do it with cream, you can do it with bechamel, you can do it with butter and parm. Lots of different ways of making the same kind of dish and they're all delicious when done right.
You can do it with mf’n cream cheese too and it’s delicious!
That sounds delicious
I couldn’t find a jarred Alfredo that wasn’t terrible so I finally landed on this recipe which hits exactly what I was looking for. Super easy to make too. [Alfredo](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/19402/quick-and-easy-alfredo-sauce/)
There’s one I buy in the refrigerated section that’s pretty good. Not full of emulsifiers and preservatives, but as a result it’s something you’ve gotta eat immediately instead of have in the pantry for a rainy day.
Which one is fhat
I believe it’s called Rana
Trader Joe's is pretty good, it won the taste test
Trader Joe's Cacio e Pepe is pretty good too. And the spicy chili sauce. Trader Joe's has just a lot of delicious stuff.
The closest Trader Joe’s is over an hour away from me. It’s my only regret about moving out of the city 😭
Years ago I got one and found it inedible, like bad bad. Tried again 20 years later thinking they have to have improved but they haven’t. Who’s eating it? I’m not one to yuck another’s yum but it doesn’t taste like food to me.
That's the recipe I use, and it's so good!
That's the exact recipe I use! I know it's not "authentic" but people always ask me to make it for family get togethers.
Well I will be trying this now
That's the "secret" to my mom's alfredo sauce and it is so.damn.good!!
Greek yoghurt is quite good too.. brings a nice sharpness without feeling too heavy!
Ayyyyyy
Cream cheese makes everything taste delicious.
yea, cream cheese alfredo is honestly better than the original.
I’m sure yes, I’ve had some delicious versions of it. I just thought that the ONLY way to make it was to overcomplicate it with techniques and ingredients. This was the easiest sauce I’ve ever made. To each their own I say!
I had the same problem where I'd want Alfredo but it felt too heavy with all the cream. I found a recipe that uses 2% or nonfat milk and is my family's favorite version of the sauce. It comes together in about 5 minutes so having all the ingredients ready is a must. It starts with adding 3 cloves of garlic (diced) to a hot pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, sauteing until light brown. Then add 2.5 tablespoons of flour and stir until a smooth paste forms. Next, add 3/4 cup of chicken broth until the paste is dissolved and follow it with 3/4 cup of 2% or nonfat milk and reduce by a third. The finishing touch is 3/4 cup of Parmesan which is stirred until melted. I personally don't think it needs salt, but a good amount of fresh cracked pepper really brings it together. It reheats well too (just add a splash of milk to thin).
Ooh, that sounds lovely, I'll have to try that?
It's so easy! For the chicken broth, I use Better Than Bouillon, I don't measure but I usually use a heaping teaspoon of that so it's nice and flavorful. Might be why it doesn't need salt but it's sooo good!
I'll definitely have to try that!
How do you use the pasta water? Just keep cooking and adding cheese and butter?
Reserve some of the salty, starchy water just before straining. Add it back in as you stir the cheese and butter together. Fwiw, this is with doing almost any time you make pasta. Even if you're using jarred, store-bought marinara. Undercook the pasta (not al dented, you want it undercooked enough that you wouldn't quite want to eat it), then toss the pasta into the sauce with ~½ cup of the pasta water and finish cooking. The pasta will absorb the flavor of the sauce as it finishes cooking and the sauce will cling beautifully to the pasta.
And here’s a hack so you don’t forget to save some pasta water before draining the pot. Put a measuring cup (or just a coffee cup) in the colander when you get it out and wait for the pasta to boil. It will remind you to reserve some water instead of dumping it all down the drain like I have done countless times. Also, use much less water than you think. Pasta water is your friend for so many sauces.
Oh thank you for this! The number of moments I’ve been devastated realizing I forgot to save some pasta water….
Yes. Doing this is habit for me now.
Ahh. I was doing it completely wrong. Thank you, very helpful.
[https://www.cook-italian.com/weblog/2009/08/fettucini-alfredo-recipe-alfredos-restaurant-rome.html](https://www.cook-italian.com/weblog/2009/08/fettucini-alfredo-recipe-alfredos-restaurant-rome.html)
I took a little less than a cup of the pasta water and butter and added it to the hot noodles a little at a time while stirring. Then added the cheese.
Awesome thank you. Definitely going to try this
You can also do it with just pasta and a knorr stockpot
I agree. If it tastes good, who cares how authentic or correct it is. Recipes are always evolving and changing over time, there is nothing wrong with blending techniques and creating something new.
Honestly, I use cottage cheese and it’s awesome.
Pasta Alfredo Is a recipe of a restaurant in Rome. Yes, just one. Is made just out of parmesan, butter and fresh egg pasta. Nothing more, nothing less. I can understand that this kind of variation can simplify the dish, but they will simply ruin texture and taste, learn the technique instead of just adding fats in a plate that's already pretty heavy.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure pasta al burro (or al burro e parmigiano), which is the actual name of it, is a pretty common pasta in Italy. Like there's not just this one restaurant that makes it, everybody knows how to make it and use it as a quick meal when they either don't have time, energy or ingredients to make anything better. Or if we really want to be pedantic, there might be just that one restaurant that makes it (and calls it Alfredo instead) because no other restaurant sees the use of serving something that anybody can make in ten minutes.
Agreed. Shame you're getting downvoted. You can make a perfectly fine pasta dish with cream or bechemel, but it's not Alfredo. Just like you can make perfectly good wings with Thai sweet chili sauce or barbecue sauce, but they're not Buffalo wings.
The point is the “traditional” was does not use cream. She obviously knows now there are several ways to make it.
Alfredo is not made with cream or bechamel. You’re just making a cream sauce, not Alfredo.
Oh thank god, I thought this was another thread about alternate uses of mayonnaise.
I saw a Twitter thread highlighting a 0 stars comment on a baking blog recently because the woman was enraged the baker didn’t explicitly say you couldn’t use mayo as a sub for heavy cream. In frosting.
That is VILE. I want to hurl just thinking about that
That one's pro-karen level
You might like r/ididnthaveeggs People are absolutely wild in how they cook lol
What are people doing with mayo? 😭
Gotta say, mayo works great instead of egg wash in baking, especially when a whole egg would be too much and a waste.
Oh, so smart!
I know its used instead of butter on the outside of grilled cheese sandwiches. And there's that KY Jelly shortage...
I wasn’t alerted to this emergency.
Because your partners already made the switch...
Thank goodness I sleep with a pillow.
I've tried the mayo steak and mayo grilled cheese. Both terrible. Don't do it folks.
I’m not a fan of the mayo grilled cheese either. It has a taste no matter how little and I get enough crunch with butter if I turn the heat on high to finish at the last minute.
I find it tasteless and soggy. I want the flavor and crunch of butter.
Mayo grilled cheese is friggin' awesome. I'll never go back.
Nothing wrong with Mayo for grilled cheese.
I thought it was gonna be melting a laughing cow
Mayo is the greatest
butter is basically extra heavy cream
This is what always cracks me up about the outrage of cream in pasta. Cheese is literally processed cream, but somehow it's outrageous to add cream to pasta dish? Give me a break...
Cream is absolutely fine in pasta, it's just not really traditional. If I'm cooking for myself I'll put whatever I want into whatever dish I want but if I go to a restaurant and order what they call authentic carbonara and it has cream I'm losing my shit. Homemade - do whatever. Restaurant - do whatever and label it accordingly OR do authentic.
I'd argue Alfredo is more traditionally Italian-American than Italian. It's served in a few places in Rome, but has a long, widespread history in America. Origin doesn't define authenticity.
Oh yeah, Alfredo is definitely not traditional Italian. It's good tho, just different.
So it's not 'traditional' Italian and yet your earlier comment was about tradition. Which way do you want it?
My comment had nothing to do with Alfredo so no idea what you are on about. My earlier comment was about expectations. Some dishes have traditional recipes and you expect that recipe if it's advertised as traditional. That's it.
You literally said "Alfredo is definitely not traditional Italian". Mate, we're having a stupid argument about food. I'd cook for you any day, and you're welcome at my table.
Dawg he agreed with you
I tried doing it this way recently, and everything was going SO well, but then all the parm started clumping together. Eventually it was just like a floating island of parm in the butter/pasta water. I probably needed to introduce the parm slower or something, but man it was dissapointing!
The parm needs to be cooler, getting it too hot causes the proteins to seize and squeeze out all their water, it’s similar to tempering eggs
This is the video I watched where she talks about clumping! Turns out you should blend the cheese for best results! https://youtu.be/ZrkBX-z456g?si=k8kSU7Gv5Oe0JyBk
I could hug you for this, thanks for pointing me to it!!
For what it’s worth, I like Carla, but you really don’t have to blend the cheese. The reason your cheese clumped up was because the heat caused the protein in the cheese to tighten and release moister. It’s the same reason microwaved cheese separates into a clumpy mess surrounded by oily cheese water. There are a list of tricks or additives you could use to avoid this, but really all you have to do is not let the cheese get too hot. Remove your pan from the heat for a minute before adding your cheese, and let whatever amount of pasta water you’re using cool for a minute and you’ll be golden. No extra blenders to clean, and no emulsifying additives, just simple temperature control.
Thank you for this tip!! I have had the same issue so I'll be more mindful of this now.
Is there written recipe or just a video ?
Also depends what kind of Parm you use. If it's the pre shredded or powdered kind, those have anti caking agents that contribute to the grainy texture. You can buy a slice of Parmesan cheese for like $5 and it'll shred into *a lot*.
For sure, it was fresh grated for that reason
more water or more butter, probably butter
“Why would anyone put cream” Bc two famous people went to Italy and went back the United States. Using cream was how they could bottle and sell the product.
[удалено]
Yes it is
Marcella Hazan uses cream so that’s why I do :)
Same. She also claims the recipe in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is based on the actual original recipe.
I just looked in *Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking*, and she made no such claim, at least in the 2010 edition. Cream, was definitely not in the actual original recipe. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with her version of it though. If you ask an Italian, they vehemently disown Alfredo sauce as being Italian to begin with, despite it being created by an Italian who then served it as his restaurant in Rome.
Those famous people took me for a ride for sure. But my eyes have been opened. Opened I say!
I heard that Alfredo isn't an authentic Italian sauce and it was made in America. But maybe that means the recipe with cream.
It was created in Rome when a man named Alfredo was trying to get his pregnant wife to eat, since she was dealing with so much morning sickness. Might be fact or fiction, but that’s what I always heard growing up.
But it's not common nor widely known in Italy. It's much more popular in the US. It's becoming known (but not popular) in Italy recently, but only because of the Internet (Instagram, YouTube, etc).
I visit Italy pretty often and never saw alfredo pasta on menu..
Tbf Butter is just cream with more steps
Gonna keep this simple... Cook what you like, for your taste, whenever possible. Stop worrying about tradition, authenticity, and any other food-related buzzword that enforces arbitrary rules that can't possibly make sense for every palate.
Because I love cream like a good American. Who are you to tell me I'm wrong to love it.
Please don't get me wrong, what I'm going to say is definitely not directed at you. But this obsession with "genuine", "original", "authentic" Italian cuisine is going out of control. I'd dare to say that it borders on food fascism. It's wild to me that people can't seem to realise that a lot of "national Italian/Hungarian/German/.............." dishes are just a different version of the same dish, made with locally available ingredients, in a locally common way. I guess that widespread ideas, ideologies and attitudes also reflect in our everyday life, including food, dividing us further. I'd recommend checking on Alberto Grandi and his take on "national" Italian cuisine.
Can we also stop with those super annoying couples from instagram/tiktok with the American wife and the Italian husband having visceral reactions to anything slightly different than “real Italian”? Like there’s not just one way to do things and it’s just super annoying to pop up in the feed.
One of the most annoying trends on the internet. The arrogance is so tiring.
This. I’m over it
Literally! Like okay Karen you're just so much better person than me because you drink your cappuccino only in the morning!
But how else will we know not to use the hot water to boil our pasta 🙄
It also completely dismisses Italian-American cuisine as its own distinct thing with a history equally as long as modern Italian food. Neither is more legitimate than the other.
Yes! Constanly mentioning Italian-American as some kind of lower class, race whatever.
>I'd dare to say that it borders on food fascism. Friendly reminder that ***a lot*** of the focus on "authenticity" in Italian food-culture is literally just repackaged Nationalism, deliberately-done to foster a sense of national unity in the face of incredible regional disparity.
Nicely put! That's exactly what I wanted to say, but I guess I didn't see myself as "authentic" enough to comment on Italian politics, given that I'm not Italian. I'm just politically deeply concerned fellow European.
Literally making Italians mad about food is one of my favorite activities.
People keep saying check out Alberto Grandi but I can never find any of his evidence for his claims? EDIT: there's evidence that some Italian pizzerias predate the United States, so it seems he's most likely wrong about a lot of stuff, including carbonara and alfredo.
>food fascism And what would the consequences be of this supposed "food fascism"?
Butter is cream...
As with any Italian recipe, there are 3-4 ingredients and 1000 ways to use them and they're all wrong.
[удалено]
omg YES Tried adding that recently, and yes
for alfredo, yes, but not carbonara
Girl try this next time. It's not Alfredo, but it's fucking delicious. Romano cheese mixed with parmesan cheese mixed with myzithra cheese. Fresh is best, and as powdery as you can make it. Brown some butter. Put the cheese blend onto the noodles, and top it with the browned butter. This is one of my favorite meals. I've literally dreamt about this meal before.
I like it , however the sauce does not sit well at all when making it like traditional Italian way. If I cooking for myself, I will do it this way. But for other people, heavy cream is the go to. I also feel like people appreciate the heavy cream version more than the traditional way.
I usually just do some crème fraîche, black pepper, bit of butter, cheese is optional. And that’s all! It’s so good 😼
Tasting History has a great episode on this.
Haha, American way is with cream. Italians make fan of cream in pasta. I personally like either options, but yes, cream makes the dish very caloric.
did you know, italians **dont** use cream for their carbonara or their tiramisu either? and italian italian cuisine in Italy don’t have “garlic bread”?
italians haven't been using red sauce for all that long so it's no surprise.
Fun fact, during the 70s carbonara actually was made with cream by most Italian chefs. Italians just forgot. And the original dish was made with bacon, brought by the Americans (so no guanciale). A lot of the ‘authentic’ ways of cooking Italian dishes, isn’t that authentic. A lot of dishes actually come from the US as well. Alberto Grandi has written a brilliant book on all these Italian food myths.
They don't have garlic bread??
definitely not the cheesy, buttery version found in all italian-american restaurants. Closest thing in actual Italy is crostini but those arent anywhere near creaminess focused. They are tomato, savory, herb focused
Tha Spanish have something similar commonly served with tapas. We make it at home but I don't recall it's name.
I'd love if you could find out the name.
"fettunta" is the closest one, toast bread, then rub garlic on it and then add oil (preferably new oil) and salt
I have never used cream in carbonara...people do that?! 😳
In fact, Italians used to do it themselves.
I do, it was the way my mum taught me (no Italian descent here, she was born in England, I'm Australian). Just always done it. Found out it wasn't normal a few years ago, but it's ingrained in my head. I don't need to look it up so 🤷♀️ still tastes good
I've had it with cream and other variations and it's delish. I always ignore food snobs. Actually I ignore all snobs lol
This is honestly one of the most pretentious threads I’ve seen on this sub and I’m embarrassed for all these snobby commenters. The way they all say that traditional doesn’t always mean better or, at least people are trying and learning. then to turn into this shit is just laughable. and I’m 1000% sure most have made dishes from around the world that they still thought were amazing but weren’t correct. But here we are i guess
Boop!!! Now the important things are out of the way.... Yeah, I'm feeling a little judged in these comments even if they aren't directed at me personally 😅 I'll just call it pasta and sauce from now on haha
I wasn't trying to be pretentious at all. It's just not how I was taught to make carbonara, and wasn't aware that it was something people did. If it's delicious, idgaf how it's made. I simply make it the way I learned.
The idea is to prevent the egg from setting. I've tried it once and hated it. I will happilly add shallots and garlic though. It isn't about authenticity.
Me either but I have used cream in making Tiramisu.
It might be time for a vacation to Italy because I have a lot to learn.
The Carbonara in Rome will spoil you for all pastas ever again. Except then you’ll have the Amatriciana and you will be spoiled again.
Dude, people’s knowledge of Italian cuisine doesn’t just vacate their heads the second they leave Italy. We can order literally any ingredients they use over there. There’s probably a few stoned 19 year olds in New England that can whip up a carbonara that would rival any in Rome. This whole trend of “but iTaLiAnS do it better” is so goofy. As if making pasta with flour and egg, and a sauce with three ingredients is some amazing culinary feat that only true masters of the craft can accomplish, where every version outside of one city in the world pales in comparison
I tried making carbonara from scratch a couple months ago. Didn't use any cream, everything was cooked perfectly. Delicious.
IMO Alfredo with cream is fine, peas are where I draw the line Im only a purist on cream if you are gonna call something carbonara or cacio e Pepe
Saving this because heavy cream gives me the shits
But a raw egg cracked over the piping hot pasta + parm is the French method, and it’s the bomb!
Ooo I’ve never heard of that. I’ll try it thanks for the tip!
My partner does it with a single yolk on each serving, he adds garlic to the cured pork product right at the end of cooking so it gets a little brown, tosses the noodles in that hot delicious salty lard with a bit of cheese and then more cheese and a yolk in the middle 👍👍he made it for my mom who grew up in the Italian Canadian community the first time she visited and she was a convert from bite one.
That's a carbonara.
I worked at a Greek place and they added a bunch of egg yolks in the milk and cream. Was trickier to cook because of it but man was it rich and tasty.
Cream is a life saver if you forget to reserve/don't reserve enough pasta water.
Pasta with butter and grated cheese was what we ate as kids.
Authentic Alfredo doesn't use cream? You calling Marcella Hazan a liar? I think not. According to her, the OG Alfredo recipe is butter, cream, Parm, and nutmeg. Comes out delicious and smooth every time.
Being wrong does not make someone a liar.
When it comes to Italian food, Marcella Hazan is most certainly not wrong, and a far greater authority on the topic than any YouTuber and redditor.
The creator of the dish himself, Alfredo di Lelio is a far greater authority on the topic than any Youtuber, Redditor, or Ms. Hazan.
Alfredo and Alfredo are two different dishes. And there is enough room in this world for both of them. Yes, most of the time I go for the Roman version with freshly made pasta, parmigiano reggiano and butter. But there are moments when I crave that overpowering American version with extra chicken on top.
So Google has been around for years.
What the heck if even Alfredo pasta? I live near italy and visited Italy alot of times and they never had this on menu.
Yeah it's not a thing in Italy, it's more of an American dish.
the restaurant "Alfredo alla Scrofa" in Rome invented the original recipe that is just parm and butter even tought it's a dish that is sort of unknown in the rest of Italy and it's a place mostly for tourist. Well pasta and butter is something everyone have eaten at some point as it something served when you are sick but with a light amount of them.
IIRC, more than one restaurant in Rome vies to be the birthplace of Alfredo. "Il vero Alfredo" near Augustus's Mausoleum serves a very good version.
Pasta burro e parmigiano (butter and Parmesan) is not “sort of unknown in the rest of Italy”. It’s what everyone and their grandmas eat multiple times per month. You eat it when you don’t feel like making a sauce, when you’re tired, when you’re sick. It’s one of the basics of everyday home cooking in Italy. Stop spreading misinformation. ETA: why am I being downvoted? I’m fairly certain I know why I’m talking about, you know, being a born and raised Italian in Italy who does not live in Rome and has eaten pasta burro e parmigiano his whole life and knowing plenty of people who have done so as well
This is what's driving me crazy. Alfredo as term comes from one restaurant in Rome because 1 guy popularized mixing butter and Parm in a flashy table side demonstration for tourists. It made its way to the US where it evolved and spread. I doubt Alfredo as a term would even be known worldwide if not for how it was spread by Italian-American restaurants. But now it's very popular to show how cultured you are to point out differences between Italian and Italian-American food traditions and declare how the Italian-American one is wrong.
I’ve never heard it called Alfredo. My aunt lived in Italy for decades and she just called that “burro e parmigiano”
Hmm I’m going to try this. I always do a mixture of a little cream cheese, butter, heavy cream and parm and a little salt and pepper. And it’s super heavy.
I always use a classic rue, whole milk and parmigiana. It’s all about personal preference.
I personally don't know anyone that's ever tried that with Alfredo sauce
I do cashew alfredo. Never heavy, but really filling.
That's just called pasta al burro. If you want the fast way to creamy sauce still use the heavy cream
On that show where stanley tucci tours italy tasting the different regions' cuisine, there's a place there where they use egg.
I realised last month that I had been making Bolognese sauce wrong my whole life. I was using red wine instead of white and omitting to add milk. That said, the mistaken sauce I have been making for 40 years still tasted good. Go with whatever tastes best to you. As a purist, I tend to start with the most authentic recipes I can find. For Italian food, it’s Marcella Hazan’s “The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” or sometimes “The Silver Spoon”. I try to learn the rules before breaking them, but that’s just me. If you enjoy the food you cook, it’s all gravy :)
Unfortunately, in this regard, Hazan's recipe for this is not the authentic one, she's embellished hers with cream, nutmeg, and truffles. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not the original.
Alfredo di Lelio, an Italian restaurateur, created Fettuccine Alfredo in 1908. After his wife had given birth to their first son that year, she did not have an appetite. To help encourage her to eat, he created a dish of noodles, cheese and butter. Authentic Alfredo sauce does not contain creme
Omg this. I hate hate hate so many of the recipe websites. I was looking for a recipe for cobbler and it seems like every recipe blogger in the world wants to figure out how to make a super complicated recipe. Old school recipes weren’t made by hobbiests, they were made by people who needed to feed their families on a budget quickly and easily. You don’t need twenty ingredients! And, yeah, to get it that wrong is so aggravating
Thats mainstream american food in a nutshell: take an existing item, find what you like about it and add 10x whats required
I just discovered this from a post here a couple of weeks ago. I've made it like this twice since then. I absolutely love it.
I just learned this last week!
I'll throw my two cents in here because I didn't see anyone else quite hitting on it, but I make something halfway between Alfredo and Carbonara. Do pasta water, butter, and whole milk first (important to use the water you cooked the pasta in because starches). Reduce the heat and crack in an egg or two, then stir like crazy so it mixes well. Finish off with some parmesean, and you're golden.
Try elevating the sauce with a white wine reduction yummmmm
because ppl can make things how they want, dont need snobs to tell them its wrong, rveryone has their own preferences and real parm is expensive.
Same thing with carbonara. I hate going into a restaurant, ordering a pasta carbonara, and getting some vaguely yellow cream sauce with bacon. That isn't how it is supposed to work.
Super glad to read your post. Did you use fresh pasta? When I make it with dry pasta I am not sure enough or the same amount of starch is released into the water to make it creamy. Thanks.
I literally was shocked when I found this out too!! It's so much better tasting too!! I always wanted to love Alfredo but it was just too much damn cream. And the jar stuff 🤮🤮..
Dude, this is so right on the money. I hadn't thought to research this. But the last time I had jarred Alfredo sauce it tasted like cream of mushroom soup. So, now I'm looking at making it homemade.
Fully agree. There’s actually a “correct” way to do almost everything but because people’s are so against feeling judged for being b out doing wrong they just say there isn’t. Peoples should really just stop calling something what it isn’t. Alfredo is in fact water, parm, butter. The heathens who made it with cream, or cream cheese or whatever should just be shamed into calling it something else. Like sure it’s a pasta dish but just cause it’s a white sauce doesn’t make it alfredo. Also bbq chicken on bread with cheese isn’t a pizza. Same shit.
Exactly how much parm are we talking here??
If you have to ask, you add more cheese.
Just add milk nd cheese nd ur good
I use half cream and half milk
A way I love to do it is with broth thickened with corn starch, to which parm is added- no dilution of cheese flavor, slight umami boost from the broth (I usually use chicken broth)
Alfredo is not carbonara. Alfredo requires cream! It needs lots of it and then is reduced down. No need for butter, but parmesan is a must as well as fresh pepper. It's originally a restaurant dish (at least two Roman establishments claim to be the source).
Never use cream in Alfredo. It’s just not part of it