My husband Mark and I have loved Olive Garden’s fettuccine Alfredo since our college days, but back then it was a rare treat on a student budget. Even now, it’s an unusual splurge. So we decided to make our own version we could have at home and make less of a dent in our wallets.
After our second year of college we both spent part of the summer taking summer classes at our separate campuses (just as we had the year before), and for the first time we had the experience of living in dorm apartments that had actual kitchens – a stove and an oven and everything. It was miserable being apart, but it got us closer to our goals: get through college as fast as possible and get married. Priorities.
Despite the imposed 5.5 hour distance it, it was rather fun for Mark to have his own apartment, mostly to himself, for the first half of the summer. And since he had a kitchen for the first time, he was excited to try out some cooking of his own. We had a lot of fun talking about things to try and writing down possible recipes he might like to attempt. He soon found a recipe online that was very similar to Olive Garden’s, and tried it out for the first time when I came to visit for a weekend. It was our first experience with actually cooking a “grown up” meal together (though I was just assistant to the chef), and it turned out delicious.
It became an instant favorite, and while we’ve added a number of tweaks over the years, he’s been making a very similar version of it ever since. When we moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois and he had his first full-time job I began to make it sometimes when he was busy, but he still liked to make it and experiment with new recipes on the weekends. Our four kiddos were introduced very young, and three out of four were fans. Since the move to Oklahoma and embarking on our farming adventure I am usually the one who makes it. But Mark was the very first, and it was his signature dish for many years. It’s a meal we both still love.
Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients for Sauce & Pasta:
½ c butter (1 stick)
1 ½ c cream cheese (1 ½ blocks)
2 c milk
½ to 1 c of Parmesan
Garlic salt & Pepper to taste
1 ½ lbs Fettuccine pasta
Optional Toppings
1 chicken breast, sauteed & diced
1 c steamed broccoli
½ c fresh diced tomatoes
Instructions:
- Boil water with 1 Tbsp of oil, and 1 Tbsp of salt in a pot. Add Fettuccine noodles and boil for 12-15 minutes, or until tender.
- Saute chicken with 1 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp of oil in a large saucepan, sprinkled with garlic salt and pepper.
- When the chicken is cooked through, dice and leave it in the pan.
- Add butter, cream cheese, milk, and Parmesan. Heat and mash with a fork until cream cheese is melted and the milk starts to simmer and absorb the butter; stir until thick and smooth.
- Stir in garlic salt and pepper to taste.
- Top with diced tomatoes and broccoli if desired.
Ballard Creek Pastures 