The Best Easy Creamy Fettuccini Alfredo is made with a few basic ingredients! Made with butter, garlic, heavy cream, Parmesan and salt. Dinner in less than 20 minutes.
Ingredients
1/2cupunsalted butter (no margarine), cut into tablespoons
1clovegarlic, minced or crushed (about 1 teaspoon)
Place 8-12 oz* of pasta into a pot of boiling water with 2 tablespoons of salt.
Cook the pasta to al dente (see notes).
For sauce:
While cooking pasta, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add minced garlic to pan.
Let the garlic cook for about one minute, taking care to not burn garlic!
After a minute, turn the heat to medium and add the heavy cream to the pan with the butter and garlic. Whisk together.
Let the cream, butter and garlic simmer for 5-8 minutes on medium heat. It will thicken a bit during this process.
Grate the cheese and add to the sauce a little at a time, stirring with a whisk to prevent the cheese from clumping. Turn heat to low.
When the pasta is done, Using tongs, remove pasta from the boiling water in a few batches. Let the excess water drip back into the pasta pot and place hot pasta directly into the pan of Alfredo sauce. It is ok if some of the pasta water ends up in the sauce. This will help thin the sauce a bit.
Toss the pasta and Alfredo sauce together. Taste the pasta coated in the sauce. Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Thin with additional pasta water if needed.
Serve immediately in warmed bowls and top with additional grated cheese on top.
Notes
If using fresh pasta, the cook time for the pasta will be very short. Usually 2-4 minutes at most. Read package directions.
When cooking pasta, do not over cook! It is best to remove the pasta from the water before it is "al dente" it will continue to cook in the pan a bit in the sauce! Al dente means "to the tooth" in Italian. Read the directions for cooking on the package and cook a couple of minutes less than directed. The pasta will continue to cook after it is removed from boiling water and also in the pan of sauce on the stove top.
If serving Fettuccini in a serving bowl, heat the bowl (make sure it is heat proof) for a few minutes in an oven at 225. This will help keep the sauce and pasta warm and creamy.
The amount of pasta used will depend on the amount of sauce you prefer on your pasta. I like my pasta to be less saturated with sauce, so I use 10 oz of pasta in this recipe. If you like a lot of sauce and less pasta use 8 oz of pasta!
For best results when reheating, use a low setting on microwave to prevent separation of the butter and cream, or place ingredients in a non-stick pan on stove over low heat.