How to Make Fettuccine Alfredo Like An Italian (Easy Recipe)

[@matt_walker]

Have you ever used my fettuccine alfredo secret in your pasta at home??

[@jenniferhallihan2484]

No, never! Thanks for this - I had no idea and am very guilty of using canned sauces.

[@GregCurtin45]

Sorry, no, but this isn't something I would ever make without added peppers & cooked Italian sausage -= hence it would no longer be fettuccine Alfredo. So I have a question... as always; would it make more sense to add the pasta water first and whisk it so it all emulsifies easier and then add the pasta? I do however realize that adding the not-fully-cooked pasta means that it will absorb the cheese & butter more intensely before watering it down. So yeah, I think your method results in a better tasting Alfredo as it is not watered down. I still think I would make this with at least a bit of starchy water first to create a smoother sauce. ps: You need to have some crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Thanks again for an amazing instruction video. Always learn something new each video.

[@matt_walker]

Thanks Greg. I feel like the comments would go crazy on me if I added peppers and cooked Italian sausage!!! It's a super good question, and I don't see why it wouldn't work to add a bit of pasta water to the cheese and butter. I've seen that done on other Roman pastas - Cacio e Pepe I believe. In my research, I often saw Italian restaurants making it on a large plate, basically sort of like I did, but on a big serving platter. Also, crusty bread to finish up all the sauce is a must!!

[@GingerbeardHPG]

Ok, im having a terrible time getting this right. I am using salted butter in the bowl, grading my own parmesan cheese. Putting both in a glass bowl, then cooking the noodles. When the noodles are done, i have tried it 2 ways, one with the water first and one with the noodles first, both times the cheese clumped up and would not spread. I have no idea wherr i am going wrong.

[@matt_walker]

I know how frustrating that can be! It could be a few different things… if you don’t have really finely grated cheese, it can clump, so try using a microplane or the smallest holes on a box grater… some people in the comments (and some other videos I’ve seen) suggest making a little slurry with the cheese, butter and a bit of pasta water, try adding a bit, mixing then adding a bit more until you get the cheese mostly melted basically into a paste… another mistake I made was not adding enough pasta water, this is double-edged though because too much pasta water makes a loose sauce… I’ve also seen some people suggest the water may not be starchy enough, so maybe try cooking the pasta in as little water as possible. Hopefully, some of those ideas help cause I know how frustrating it is to make these Italian pastas and have the cheese clump!

[@supernoobsmith5718]

I'll give you the real secret to REAL Alfredo. At the place in Italy where it was invented they use the same water over and over, and it's VERY starchy. You can mimic that by incorporating flour in the process, maybe in the water. When I do it, I make it with real fresh pasta that I made. Which is heavily floured and flash frozen, so a lot of the flour ends up in the water. Use this concept for a truly creamy sauce. You can mimick this by making a small roux first, butter and flour cooked in a saucepan before hand. Or you can add flour to the water, but that's a bit wasteful. Or just make fresh pasta like I do. Any of those ideas will give superior results. I use roux all the time to thicken soups and it works amazing. But you have the right idea with less water.

[@matt_walker]

Hi! Some really good tips in here. I saw when I was researching this video that they keep using the same water; it looked so cloudy and delicious! The roux idea or adding some flour to the water is a really cool idea, and I'll definitely give that a try. I try to make these Sunday Supper videos on the simple side, so that's why I decided to use store-bought pasta instead of making it from scratch. The idea of heavily flouring it is great, though. Thanks for watching and writing your tips!!

[@supernoobsmith5718]

@@matt_walker A little bit goes a long way too. For instance, I make a tomato/beef soup that I add a roux to. And I use about 2 tablespoons of flour and a half stick of butter to heavily thicken 5 quarts of soup. So don't go too crazy! :D And don't cook the roux for too long for Alfredo. A few minutes is more than enough. In contrast to my soup which goes good with a darker roux.

[@matt_walker]

Awesome ideas. I'll be giving this a try. Thanks so much!

[@jenniferhallihan2484]

Looks really good. Only 3 ingredients too - wow

[@matt_walker]

Thanks!!

[@stevensden]

Ive seen people add the pasta water to the cheese first in cacio e pepe recipes to make a sauce then pour that over the pasta. Would that work as well for this recipe? Not sure if its done differently because of the different cheese being used.

[@matt_walker]

Hey Stephen - Greg and I were talking about this exact same thing in a conversation in the pinned comment! I've seen the same thing you've seen with pasta water being added to the cheese first in cacio e pepe, and I don't see why it wouldn't work in this recipe. While I haven't tried it specifically in this recipe, they are both Italian hard cheeses, so I feel like they would react the same. I think the only thing to watch out for is to go easy on the pasta water because you can always add more; taking it out is really hard!

[@dorothyedelstein6127]

I actually made this before I saw this video!!! It’s far superior to the ones with cream in it!!! It was fantastic!!!

[@matt_walker]

Completely agree!

[@SHARYN-q9n]

Are you sitting on the floor??

[@Laura-j5i]

Paaasta ... not authentic at all. Healthier though without cream, why not just say that.

[@matt_walker]

@@Laura-j5i no cream in Fettuccine Alfredo from Italy

[@frangipanboo]

Hi Matt - how much pasta did you? Equal part to the butter & cheese? Love the channel 🤙🏼

[@matt_walker]

Thanks so much! I usually weigh things by grams and think 100g (or 4oz / 1/4 lb, give or take!) of pasta is perfect for one person, and then equal parts pasta and cheese, about 30g (or 2 tbsp). It's a pretty forgiving recipe so you can adjust as well!