Ashley’s Favorite Sauces: Alfredo

I am a purist when it comes to Alfredo: an Alfredo is NOT - I repeat is NOT - a roux with cheese!!

You see an awful lot of recipes calling themselves ‘Alfredos’ that are indeed just that. And I get it - Alfredos are really high calorie and high fat, and a roux with cheese is certainly HEALTHIER.

<Don’t Call It An Alfredo Though>

A modern fettuccine Alfredo was invented BY an Alfredo, a bit of a history lesson here for you! Alfredo sauce was invented by an Alfredo di Lelio in Rome, who started working in a family restaurant run by his mother Angelina in the piazza Rosa in 1892.

And an Alfredo as created by the original chef Alfredo has THREE ingredients and THREE ingredients precisely! Butter, cream, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese make up a purist’s Alfredo.

I do allow myself to sub fat free half and half for the cream, I’ll say that, as a concession to fat and calories. It’s still something one makes for a treat and not everyday!

(And keep in mind, because of all the butter, it does NOT reheat well. Leftovers turn very greasy.)

I cut down the recipe to use as a pizza sauce today: chicken Alfredo pizza is also a favorite of mine! Basically anything that involves butter, cream, and cheese is a favorite, let’s face it. 😊

ALFREDO SAUCE 

(For 8 oz pasta)

1/2 C butter

1/2 C cream or half and half

3/4 C shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Melt butter in small saucepan. Stir in cream with a whisk; it will want to separate. Add cheese and stir till melted. 

Top hot pasta with sauce and garnish with parsley.

Baked Ziti with Spring Vegetables

Another recipe that uses my favorite Marinara! Ashley's Favorite Sauces: Marinara

I am adding steamed asparagus and spinach to this one, because I didn’t like the vegetables in the original recipe I found. 😊

I am also using Tinkanyada macaroni, because if gluten-free ziti is a thing, I’ve never found it!

Using my own marinara, of course, from a blog post several weeks ago. That recipe makes a batch, and I had some frozen. So much better - and healthier! - than buying a jar at the store!

BAKED ZITI WITH SPRING VEGETABLES 

2 lbs asparagus, trimmed into bite-sized, and steamed

40 oz fresh spinach, steamed

1 lb Tinkanyada brown rice pasta

4 C Ashley's Favorite Sauces: Marinara

2 C mozzarella, divided 

1/2 C fresh Parmesan

15 oz part-skim ricotta

3 cloves minced garlic

2 t dried oregano

3 t dried parsley

Preheat oven to 375.

Steam asparagus and spinach; cook pasta according to package directions.

Mix ricotta, Parmesan, 1/2 C mozzarella, garlic, oregano, and parsley.

Pan-spray a 9x13 casserole dish. Layer marinara, pasta, vegetables, and ricotta filling twice; top with marinara and remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 375 until mozzarella is melted.

*This could be made ahead and refrigerated until time to bake. You could also make ahead and freeze, I suppose, just leave out the asparagus (which doesn’t freeze well!).

Creamy Asparagus and Smoked Salmon Pasta

I actually wasn’t planning on blogging this one, because I really was going to use the published recipe - until I took a second look at it and decided that sauce was going to stick to a saucepan like nobody’s business, and I really didn't want to scrub it out of a saucepan today. True!

Plus I’m adding smoked salmon and fresh wilted spinach. So we’re going to blog this one as original, in the nature of those “Based On a True Story” kind of TV deals.

It’s “based” on a published recipe, in that I got the idea for putting asparagus on pasta somewhere. 😄

You can see quite clearly here that I am not really one of those “check your recipe carefully first” kind of cooks. Spinach and asparagus have both been steamed (microwave is the easiest steaming method there IS), smoked salmon has been cut bite-sized, and pasta has already been cooked. 

It was THEN I decided to check the recipe and head out on my own. Mainly because I simply do not have the energy to scrub out a saucepan: I wonder how many recipes begin that way? Plenty of mine do, looking for cooking and/or cleaning shortcuts. 

Julia Child I am NOT. I am all about the shortcuts in the kitchen!

All right, what we’re going to do for sauce here:

I’m starting with heating a cup of water with my favorite gluten free broth base, 2 minutes in the microwave, in a four cup glass measure. 

*If you do not own a four cup measure, you need to get one. IKEA’s are awesome - but - I have no idea if IKEA sells theirs online. Mine came from the store.

While that’s heating, I am whisking 1/2 C milk with 2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch in a small bowl.

I am adding one cup milk, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 4 teaspoons stone ground mustard to the broth in the four cup measure, stirring, and then whisking in my milk-and-cornstarch slurry.

Back into the microwave, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over! Two minutes, stir, another two minutes and it’s thickened nicely.

Excellent! Nice and quick, tastes good, and nothing sticks to anything. 

Adding a splash (2 tablespoons) of lemon juice, to add a touch of citrus for the salmon.

Stirring it all together!

*And I’m noticing, as I figure calories here, I actually lightened up that original sauce considerably: it had olive oil and flour in it, both. 

CREAMY ASPARAGUS AND SMOKED SALMON PASTA

16oz pasta (I used Tinkanyada for gluten-free)

20oz fresh spinach 

2lbs fresh asparagus 

2 3oz packages smoked salmon, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 C water

2 teaspoons broth base or bouillon (Orrington Farms is marked gluten-free)

1 1/2 C 2% milk, divided

2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch 

2 minced cloves garlic

4 teaspoons stone ground mustard 

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Fresh Parmesan, to top

Lemon zest and/or parsley for garnish

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Trim asparagus and break into bite-sized piecets. Steam.

3. Wilt the spinach. I used the microwave, because it's the easiest clean-up.

4. Stir broth base into water and microwave 2 minutes in a four-cup glass measure.

5. Whisk half a cup of milk with the cornstarch until no lumps remain.

6. Stir remaining cup of milk, garlic, and mustard i nto heated broth. Add the cornstarch slurry. Whisk and bring to boiling in the microwave, stirring occassionally.

7. When sauce is thickened, pour over pasta, asparagus, spinach, and salmon. Toss. Serve with fresh Parmesan, and topped with parsley and/or lemon zest, as you prefer.

Servings: 8
Calories per serving: 305 (does not include the fresh Parmesan)