Frani’s Quick and Easy Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
There are certain dishes over the years that I’ve come to associate with friends. Take my friend Jyothi, for instance, an excellent cook with a broad repertoire of preparations. Nevertheless, I do believe it might spell a riot if upon her hosting our ladies’ international gathering she didn’t prepare those precise traditional Indian dishes that we’ve all grown to appreciate with great love and treasure.
These are the dishes that hold meaning, a special bonding in our history, the long steaming tray of Chicken Biryani, golden colored Chana Masala with chickpeas, perfectly shaped, steamed Idli rice, and lentil cakes, served alongside a spicy broth, puffy hot off the grill roti for tearing apart and dipping. Each and every dish is always prepared with consistent perfection.
And then there is my friend Frani, the daughter of Italian immigrants whose father was a chef.
You might imagine as many delicious and perfectly prepared dishes coming out of Frani’s kitchen over the years too.
The antipasti are never complete without Frani’s delicious roasted red peppers, and for as many seasons I’ve taken great comfort in her Escarole Soup, her giant-sized meatballs in red sauce are amazing, and it goes on.
When it comes to preparing some quick dishes over the years she also has a few good tricks up her sleeve, one of my long-time favorites, Frani’s Quick and Easy Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe.
With a box of fettuccine, you only need to combine three key ingredients, butter, sour cream, and Parmesan cheese. I often add a little pasta water for thinning out the creamy mixture a bit.
I add peas to this meatless meal just for a simple, colorful vegetable addition.
Frani’s Quick and Easy Fettucine Alfredo Recipe is even good enough for company and may be doubled, which I have in fact, seen Frani perform in that Italian style of hospitality fully feeding a couple extra families stopping by for a visit and ending up with an impromptu meal, complete with salad and crusty bread.
Among the most common of sayings is that sharing food makes for the fondest of memories. I do believe it is true, from the buffet of traditional time-consuming dishes lovingly prepared to quick and easy delicious preparations, each serves up something uniquely special in life’s book of treasured moments, memories created through the shared tables between families and friends.
Frani's Quick and Easy Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounce box Fettuccine
- 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), cut into small bits
- 2-2 1/2 cups sour cream
- 1- 1 1/4 cups dried Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- couple pinches coarse kosher salt
- few grinds cracked black pepper to top
Instructions
- Drop butter bits into a medium sized bowl, stir in the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Use a fork to stir and slightly press the butter between the mixture
- Cook fettuccine noodles to el dente in salted boiling water, reserve a ladle of the pasta water, drain pasta, transfer back to the pot leaving some water clinging to the noodles
- Use a spatula to scrape the sour cream mixture into the pasta pot, immediately begin tossing the mixture together
- Turn heat on very low, tumble in the peas, stir through
- Sprinkle in a couple pinches of salt, stir, check seasoning, adjust to taste
- Cook fettuccine alfredo until just warmed through, dribble in some of the reserved pasta water to thin out a bit if needed
- Transfer to a serving platter, top with some cracked black pepper
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