Alfredo Sauce – possibly the most popular Italian food in America – right? Well, yes and no. Alfredo sauce is essentially an American version of buttered noodles. In the 1920s, American-Canadian Actress Mary Pickford, visited a restaurant in Rome and ate “Pasta Bianco” which, essentially, is buttered noodles with parmesan cheese.
When Mary went back to Hollywood, she began to make it herself and serve it to her Hollywood friends. It is believed that Mary began to add cream to her recipe because the fat percentages of butter in the U.S. are much different than in Italy.
The nice thing about food – is that it does not have to be authentic to be delicious. This is by far our favorite Alfredo recipe – the well seasoned, nutty and irresistibly creamy sauce will have you craving for more.
The key to this recipes success is directly related to an ingredient we probably all have laying in our kitchen: eggs. Yes – specifically, egg yolks. While highly nutritious, they also possess the fat and flavor needed to really make this Alfredo sauce stand out. While this sauce is very easy to make it is important to never cook the sauce with the eggs. If you do, they will scramble and the sauce will lose its appeal immediately.
We love to serve our Alfredo sauce on egg noodles with our amazing parmesan garlic bread. We hope you enjoy this recipe and please let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Rich & Creamy Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 lb noodles we typically use egg noodles or rotini
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to directions on the package. Drain and allow to set for 1-2 minutes before adding the sauce.
- In a small dish, add the cornstarch and mix it with a bit of cold water until it has discolved.
- In a small sauce pan, add 3/4 cup of the heavy cream, the cheese, cornstarch and all of the seasonings. Stirring, bring this to a boil and then remove from heat and allow to sit for 1-2 minutes.
- While the sauce is heating, mix the egg yolks and remaining cold cream into a small bowl. Once you have removed the sauce and allowed it to cool for 1-2 minutes, vigorously mix in the cold cream/egg mixture.
- Pour over your pasta noodles and serve immediately.
