Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Quick, Delicious Fettucine Alfredo

Man, did I have a day today. My instructor for two of my classes will no longer be teaching us due to health issues, and I'm bummed. He was a nice guy and a good teacher, and I was just getting used to his way of doing things and settling into a routine. Getting two new teachers three weeks in is nothing short of stressful. Days like this make me crave comfort foods. Luckily, I had just the thing in mind, This fettucine alfredo recipe is from 100 Days of Real Food, and it is FANTASTIC. It also couldn't be easier, and is not too expensive to prepare. Heavy cream and butter are not the best thing for you, but in moderation they're totally ok.

Ingredients
1 lb whole wheat (you could also use regular) fettucine
2 TBS butter
2/3 cup Parmesan (I used Boar's Head, it is quality stuff)
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta as directed. As pasta is cooking, melt butter and 2/3 of the heavy cream in a saucepan. Stir with a wooden spoon, and when it thickens a bit (after a few minutes) remove it from heat and set aside. When pasta is done, drain it and then add the heavy cream and butter mixture to it. Add the remaining 1/3 cups of heavy cream and all of the cheese, and heat on medium high for a moment or two. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with more Parmesan, if desired. Serves 4-6, depending on portion size :-) I also blanched some frozen green beans in boiling water for a few minutes, then sautéed them in a tiny bit of butter and seasoned them with salt and garlic powder. They served as our veggie side.

Now, not counting the veggies, here is my estimate as to how much this delicious recipe cost per serving. Keep in mind that I calculate the amount used from each item and not necessarily the total cost (for example, the pint of heavy cream I bought was 3 dollars altogether, but I only used half of it for this recipe, but the pasta, sold in pound boxes, was all used so I counted its full price.)

Pasta- $1.00
Butter- 16 cents
Parmesan- $2.50
Heavy Cream (Organic Farms)- $1.50
Salt and pepper to taste- let's call it 25 cents, even though it probably isn't that much.

Total- $5.41 for the entire recipe, we will get two dinners out of it, so call it four servings, so $1.35 per serving! When you think about how a serving of fettucine alfredo at a restaurant would likely be $9.99 or more, that's pretty awesome! Not to mention the fact that you are controlling the quality of the ingredients and the amount of sodium, and if you use whole wheat pasta you're getting healthy grains...

Sorry for the lack of pictures, we were in a rush this evening to get to an event and I didn't think to take any. Next time...

1 comment: