Fettuccine Alfredo

Original fettuccine all’Alfredo: homemade pasta with parmesan cheese and butter

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City/Region: Italy

Time Period: 20th Century

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The original version of fettuccine alfredo was called fettuccine all’Alfredo, made and served by Alfredo di Lelio in early 20th century Rome, but to call it the original version may be a bit of a misnomer. Versions of this dish had been made for a long time in Italy as a quick comfort food as it only took a few minutes and ingredients: pasta, butter, and parmesan cheese. It’s distinctly different from modern versions you’d get at a restaurant in North America as it uses a lot more parmesan and has no added cream… and I doubt that it came with endless breadsticks.

You can absolutely make this with dried or fresh pasta from the grocery store for a quick, delicious meal.

“Double quantity of butter and cheese and well mixed - that is my secret.”

— Alfredo di Lelio

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Ingredients:

Pasta

• 2 cups (230 g) pasta flour (00 flour)
• 2 cups (325 g) semolina flour
• 6 large eggs

Sauce, for every 1/2 pound of pasta

• 1 cup (100 g) Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated* on a fine grater
• 4 tablespoons (55 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

*See notes below.

Instructions:

1. For the fettuccine: Pour the flours out onto a clean workspace and mix them together. After they’re mixed well, gather it together and create a well in the center.
2. Add the eggs into the well and work the flour into the eggs with your hands. This will be a bit messy, but it’s really the best way to do it.
3. When you have a shaggy dough, knead it by hand for 7 to 8 minutes or until it’s nice and smooth.
4. Shape into a ball and wrap it in a damp cloth or some plastic wrap and leave it to rest in a cool place for about 30 minutes. If it’s summertime and you have no cool places in your house like when I made this recipe, you can put it in the fridge.
5. Turn your rested dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 6 pieces. Flatten the pieces out and sprinkle them with flour. The key here is to use plenty of flour; you don’t want the dough to be sticky at all.
6. Set your pasta roller to its widest setting and pass a piece of the flattened dough through. Fold the dough in half or into thirds depending on the size, add more flour if necessary, and pass it through again. Repeat at least 3 times, but you can do it up to 8 times. It should become smooth and uniform, and now it’s time to tighten the rollers.
7. Tighten the rollers one notch and pass the dough through once each time you tighten them. Remember to use plenty of flour so the dough doesn’t tear. Make the dough as thin as you want, just keep in mind that the thinner it gets, the harder it will be to work with. I got to a 5 or 6 on my KitchenAid pasta rollers.
8. When the dough has all been rolled, run it through the machine on the fettuccine cutting setting, then set the pasta aside.
9. Boil 3 quarts of water in a large pot. When it’s boiling, add some salt and then the pasta. If it’s fresh pasta, cook for 1 to 3 minutes until al dente(depending on the thickness of the noodles). For dried pasta, follow the package’s instructions.
10. To assemble: Put the butter in a serving bowl that is room temperature or slightly warm. Add the pasta straight from the pot to the bowl, add about one third of the cheese, then toss to coat the noodles with the butter as it melts. Add more of the cheese and small amounts of the pasta cooking water as needed. Toss for a total of about 2 minutes.
11. Top with a sprinkle of more parmesan, some black pepper, and serve it forth.

Notes

• Pre-grated parmesan has additives to keep it from clumping that make it so it doesn’t mix well, so use freshly grated to get a nice creamy pasta.

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