Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Fettucine Alfredo for the Kid at Heart


Ah, the good old days. Remember how it felt to be a kid? Full of energy, laughter, and innocence. The days when it was more fun to share a chair with a friend, even though there were plenty of other chairs around. Everything, and I do mean everything, was funny and you giggled and laughed your way through the day.

Silly, playful, and full of imagination you made up games. For example, maybe you and your friend would do something as simple as recite the alphabet. Just for fun you'd start with the letter "A", pointing to the top of your head, working your way down your body so that the letters "H" and "I" arrived at your chest, and the letter "P" arrived.....well, you get the idea right? Something that silly would send you into hysterics, uncontrollable full-on belly shaking laughter. You laughed so hard it hurt. Your temples ached and your side was burning.

The laughter spread to every room in the house and made the adults smile. Loving the sound of laughter, your Dad gets up and snaps a picture(my friend Julie is on the left, I'm on the right). He says something like "This one will be worth holding onto." As usual, he was right. Years later this is one of your favorite pictures. It reminds you that you're still a kid at heart and that even after all these years your favorite thing to do is laugh.

My favorite thing to do is laugh, but my favorite thing to eat, both back in the day and now, is pasta! The kid in me decided that we wouldn't count calories or fat grams this week. Instead I played innocent and naive and made Fettucine Alfredo, a favorite of my daughter's and also an old favorite of mine. I got out the pasta, cream, butter, and cheese and closed my eyes. My husband asked me if I really needed that all that butter and I put my fingers in my ears, "la....la.....la...I can't hear you, I said."

Fettucine Alfredo
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis, recipe found online at Food Network
* 18 ounces fresh fettuccine (I used one pound dried pasta)
* 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I used about 1/4 cup)
* 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used 8 tbsp. or one stick)
* 2 cups grated Parmesan
* 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
* Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
* Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Directions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Drain.

Stir 2 cups of the cream and the lemon juice in a heavy large skillet to blend. Add the butter and cook over medium heat just until the butter melts, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add the pasta and toss. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, and Parmesan to the cream sauce in the skillet. Add the lemon zest, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Toss the pasta mixture over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute.

Notes/Results: The alfredo was very indulgent and rich and we did enjoy it. My husband and I enjoyed a small portion with chicken and andouille sausage. My daughter and her friends enjoyed theirs plain. I had read the reviews on this one and heard that the 1/2 cup of lemon juice was too much so I cut it back to about 1/4 cup. I think a little bit of lemon juice is a good thing, but 1/4 cup lemon juice might still be too much. I guess it's all personal preference. Also, this recipe makes a ton of pasta and is best eaten on the day that it's served. If I wasn't serving this to a crowd then I would halve the recipe for sure.

I might feel like a kid at heart, but I don't have the metabolism of one.

Best to save most of it for the kids. They gobbled it up and then wiped out a dozen chocolate chip cookies. Ah, to be a kid again!

Cooking the recipes of Giada De Laurentiis. Feel free to join in the fun....but only if you're prepared to be a kid at heart, which is this week's theme.

31 comments:

  1. Great kid recipe and fabulous photos!

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  2. Man I wish Ihad a kids metabolism!! wish wish, love this dish...more butter the better.

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  3. Fettuccine alfredo was a total favorite of mine as a kid as well. Now it's a little too rich for me to have more than just a few bites but this does sound delicious!

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  4. Do you really need all that butter?
    What kind of a question is that?!

    I love pasta and I'm a sucker for cream sauces. And since I'm no longer a kid, that's dangerous!

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  5. Wonderful post, Kim! Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and feel like the kid you used to be, right? i know I do.

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  6. I enjoyed a vicarious helping. Haven't had alfredo or carbonara in a while. I wonder if anyone would miss the turkey if I made a little substitution?

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  7. But you left out the grilled chicken, ha ha.

    I work out as much as I do so I can eat like a kid;) Delicious looking alfredo, Kim.

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  8. This was such a cute post! And a cute picture too - reminded me of my sister. I turn to fettucine alfredo whenever I want to indulge! This is totally divine!

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  9. kim, i like you! this was such a cute post, and so true. i've actually been spending the last hour listening to my kids giggle when they should be in bed, but it's just so cute and reminds me of those good days. the pasta looks excellent, i love alfredo!

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  10. obsessed with pasta! I want it creamy and pair with garlic bread YUM:)

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  11. Love Alfredo and barely make it because of all the - you know - tales of "bad for you." That said, it looks (and I know) is scruptious. And my favorite sound in the world is the deep, rich bell laugh of a kid!

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  12. What a fun photo! It's wonderful that you still have it. I miss being a kid sometimes but I get to be reminded of what it was like every day with my my kids laughter and silly antics. So fun! Mmm. I love Alfredo sauce. I love it with pasta...I love to sop it up with crusty bread...I love it on pizza!

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  13. So good...this is so Italian!!! Brava!
    I love your blog, I am an italian foodblogger with the passion for baking.
    I hope to hear from you soon... ;D

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  14. I just had a heart attack looking at those photos. I used to order fettucini alfredo at restaurants all the time. With a Frozen Mudslide. Or two. I miss my metabolism!

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  15. LOL, great post! So fun...and it's so great to remember those days...but yeah, wish my metabolism were still the same...of course hubby's seems to be. Men! This looks fantastic :D

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  16. I think we really DO need all that butter :) hehe....Sounds just delish!

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  17. Fettuccine Alfredo is definitely the dish to make when you are feeling indulgent! I loved your picture and stories from when you were a child!

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  18. It looks delicious! Nice pictures!!! Love the first one :)

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  19. Love the photo! The photo reminds everyone that being a kid can be a wonderful feeling.

    You know what else is special about kids, if left to their natural devices they have a way of enjoying food that just makes it all real.

    Great post!

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  20. Wonderful post, it made me smile. I'm the same way, there's nothing I love more than laughing and eating :D
    *kisses* HH

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  21. I absolutely love fettuccine alfredo. It looks absolutely wonderful. What a fun post!

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  22. What a great post! I definitely remember those days of laughing so much. And I miss the days when I could look at a bowl of this pasta and just think about the taste--not the effects it might have on my waistline. Hmmm...maybe I'll make this in a few months, when my son is old enough to eat dairy. He's underweight, and I'm sure this recipe could help him out. :)

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  23. This was my favorite dish as a kid! But since I no longer have a kid motabolism, I never make it. It look sso yummy though, I may have to give in!

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  24. Kim - of course you need all that butter. This looks like the kind of dish that kids of all ages would love - I've definitely bookmarked this one. Love the photo, BTW.
    Sue :-)

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  25. Great post--love the cute pictures and the pasta looks like the perfect indulgence. ;-)

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  26. Great pasta dish! As i kid my mother only knew how tomake spagetti and this macaroni out of Ć  bag, and i didn't really like it. Now a days i'm a real pasta lover and have to try this dish for sure. I remember al the laughter as a kid to;-)

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  27. Oh how much I love fettucine alfredo! As a kid, I would get one of those noodles in my mouth and slurp it all the way in! What fun! Thanks for bringing back the memories!

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  28. I love alfredo sauce but hate the jar kind. Can't wait to try this!
    ~ingrid

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