"Healthy" Fettucine Alfredo

My first attempt is a recipe (original recipe is below) from a blog called "Pinch of Yum".  She basically makes me feel bad for existing because while I sit in my apartment with my husband and feel good because I work in the non-profit world, she moved to somewhere exotic (the Phillipines) and is teaching in an orphanage for a year. And cooks food. And takes pictures. And blogs about it.

A couple notes from while I was cooking: She wants me to boil the cauliflower, and then while that's cooking, start cooking the pasta in another pot. How many pots does this woman think I have? I just cooked the cauliflower and after using 2 cups of the water in the blender, emptied it out and cooked the pasta in the same pot, keeping the sauce warm. It allllllll worked out. I used one large head of cauliflower. It was perfect.


The recipe calls for 6 gloves of garlic, which is a lot in and of itself. But I usually use more than called for in a recipe, because there is more than one clove wrapped up in that papery garlic wrapping and I don't want to separate the friends! (read: I'm super lazy. If it's unwrapped, I'm going to use it.) And I like to think of cloves of garlic as Forrest Gump's chocolate box. Inside that opaque skin is a goshdang mystery! When I tasted the sauce after the blender, the first words out of my mouth were, 'Whoa--super garlicky.' Whoops. It was still good.

My super awesome garlic cloves

Actually, for reals a word about garlic: in the recipe she says to cook it for 4-5 minutes. I personally think that's a little long. Garlic burns super easily and cooks quickly. Keep an eye on this pan while it's cooking. I think 2-3 minutes should do it. Next time I make this I might also sautee onions with the garlic (if you do this, start the onions first as they take much longer to cook) and add that in.

The sauce didn't have that cheesy taste or texture that I'm used to from classic fettucine alfredo. I think it needed a bit more salt than I put in. That being said, it was creamy (I actually think this base would make a kick butt cauliflower soup) and pretty satisfying on the pasta.

Also, my butter wasn't melting. And wasn't melting. AND WASN'T MELTING. How many minutes do you think it took for me to figure out that I had turned on the wrong burner? Yay for being special.

HEALTHY FETTUCCINE ALFREDO

Author: Pinch of Yum

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  30 mins

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. uncooked fettuccine noodles
• 3 small heads cauliflower
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup starchy boiling water from pasta pot

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Chop the cauliflower. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil over medium high heat and add cauliflower. Cook until cauliflower is soft, about 15 minutes. In my experience, the longer you cook it, the smoother the sauce will be. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and saute for 4-5 minutes or until soft and fragrant.
2. As the garlic and cauliflower are cooking, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the fettuccine according to directions on package, reserving some of the starchy water to add to the sauce later.
3. Transfer cauliflower to a blender with about 2 cups of the broth. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender. Add the sauteed garlic, salt, nutmeg, and black pepper and puree until very smooth, about 5 minutes. Once the mixture is moving, stream the olive oil into the blender. Add more broth or water if the mixture is too thick to move through the blender. You want it to turn through the blender easily. When puree is very smooth, transfer back to the butter/garlic skillet.
4. Add the cream and cook over low heat. Add the starchy pasta water (or regular water if you’re not making pasta) and keep warm until ready to serve. Combine noodles and sauce in a large pot or skillet and serve immediately.

NOTES

The sauce will “dry out” a little bit as it cools on the pasta. Adding a little water to the leftovers will help make it creamy again. Serving size is ⅛ of the noodles with about 1 cup of sauce.

Rating: A tad labor intensive, but all in all a good recipe. As soon as Hubby tasted it he said, 'Mmm. Make this more.' Which is a compliment as he's quite the chef himself.  OK, awesome person in the Phillipines who teaches and cooks and blogs and is perfect. Round one goes to you.