In the middle of all your holiday preparations (shopping, baking, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, decorating), please remember that you and your family still need to eat! And there’s no better way to make a delicious, home-cooked, comfort food than this 3-ingredient fettuccine alfredo.
That’s right. With just three ingredients, you can be putting a hot, steamy, Italian dish on the table in just 20 minutes or less (more if you add chicken). Now that’s my kind of holiday recipe! (Although it’s so good, you will definitely want to make it all year long.)
To make the 3-ingredient fettuccine alfredo, all you need is shredded Parmesan cheese, butter, and fettuccine noodles. Seriously. That’s it. No cream, no garlic, no fuss.
Ingredients:
1 pound of fettuccine noodles
¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 ½ sticks of butter, softened
Instructions:
1. Cook the fettuccine noodles in salted water according to the package instructions.
2. While the pasta is boiling, mix the softened butter and Parmesan cheese in your stand mixer.
3. Drain the noodles, saving back half the salted pasta water.
4. Return the noodles to the pot and toss with cheese mixture, along with a little more salt, if desired.
5. Add ¼ cup of the salted pasta water, and you will be amazed at how quickly the entire dish will turn into an ooey, gooey, luscious, creamy meal! It’s like magic!
6. Serve hot with your favorite vegetable or grilled chicken …or both!
A salad would do nicely, too, along with some crusty French bread, which I’ve gotten in the habit of picking up at our grocery store, where it’s on sale for $1. (Hmmmm….And I wonder why my “muffin top” has turned into a full loaf! Oh well, that’s what New Year’s Resolutions are for, right?) In the meantime, it doesn’t hurt to have a belly full of warm, cheesy pasta, right?
Note: This recipe originally appeared on marthastewart.com. I altered the recipe, using less butter…not because I’m trying to cut back on fat (see “muffin top” comment, above!), but because that’s all I had on hand. The good news is that it turned out great with less butter, so if you are trying to cut back, you can. Just remember that this recipe is definitely not fat-free!