Fettuccine Alfredo is the ultimate Italian comfort dish. Learn how to make the decadent dish in your kitchen.
Fettuccine Alfredo may be Italy’s most misunderstood dish. In fact, many food astute people write the dish off despite its deep Italian roots. Others purely associate the creamy pasta with cheese despite the fact that fettuccine Alfredo is essentially gussied-up buttered noodles. (While cheese is the key flavor enhancer, butter acts as the basis for the dish’s sauciness. In a sense, butter replaces the pork fat added to Roman pastas like amatrciana, carbonara and gricia.)
What’s not misunderstood is fettuccine Alfredo’s decadence which is why it’s not a dish to eat when dieting. Its beauty lies in its luxurious mouthfeel, the slight chew of its wide pasta and the funk of Italy’s Parmigiano-Reggiano. Sure, some recipes attempt to lighten this dish; however, to us, those attempts are counter-intuitive. Fettuccine Alfredo shouldn’t be treated like a guilt free meal. Rather, it’s a dish that epitomizes Italian comfort food.
Since comfort food shouldn’t be stressful, this recipe is super easy to prepare and serves two people (or one ravenous person). We like to eat the dish for lunch but, if you’re looking a for a quick, comforting weeknight dish, this recipe delivers the goods in less than 30 minutes.
Discover more tasty noodle recipes.
A Quick History of Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo is an Italian dish born in Rome but its actual roots are unknown. Yes, there was actual person named Alfredo and a restaurant with his name which is where the dish became famous. However, Alfredo di Lelio, who famously served the buttery, cheesy pasta in the early 20th century, did not invent the dish. We know this because of recipes that trace the dish back to the 15th century. Back then, the dish likely had a different name, perhaps fettuccine al burro (i.e. fettuccine with butter).
Di Lelio was quite the entrepreneur. His version gained its initial fame after the crafty Roman served the dish to then power couple Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920s. (The couple allegedly gifted Di Lelio a golden fork and spoon that he later used to serve his namesake pasta). He used that fame to gain greater notoriety, serving a whole host of celebs like Jimmy Stewart and Sophia Loren. Di Lelio even gave fettuccine Alfredo demonstrations around the world.
The dish evolved after Di Lelio died in 1959, especially in America where dry noodles don’t grip sauce in the same manner as fresh noodles do in Rome. So, some modern versions are thicker (some would say gloopier but those are bad versions) and richer thanks to extra ingredients like egg yolks and heavy cream. Plus, in true American style, U.S. restaurants often serve Alfredo with vegetables or sausage.
Ingredients
Our fettucine Alfredo recipe doesn’t include cream or yolks since we consider the simplicity of the Roman version to be a beautiful thing. That simplicity is what makes Italian cuisine great. However, it does include a workaround for using fresh noodles that’s ideal for home cooks.
Here’s everything you need to make authentic Roman fettuccine Alfredo in your kitchen:
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
How To Make Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo may be the easiest, most satisfying weeknight dish that you’ll ever make.
We recommend preparing the ingredients ahead of cooking – this includes preheating the oven, grating the cheese and softening the butter and organizing the mise-en-place.
Start by warming a ceramic mixing bowl in the preheated oven (200°f / 100°c) for 10 to 15 minutes. Once the bowl is in the oven, start boiling the pasta in salted water. Make sure you stir the pasta frequently to make sure the pasta thoroughly cooks and that it imparts its starch into the water.
Pro Tip
Using a relatively small amount of water creates starchier pasta water.
Next, place the softened butter into the bottom of the warmed bowl and mash it with your hand.
Pro Tip
You can gently mash the butter with a fork or spoon if you don’t want to use your bare hand.
About a minute before the pasta is cooked, scoop out a cup of the pasta water with a heat-proof measuring cup to use later. Use tongs to transfer the cooked pasta to the bowl. You can alternatively use a colander but make sure you add the pasta immediately to the mixing bowl once it’s drained. (Don’t wash the pasta or drain it too thoroughly.)
Mix the butter and pasta until they’re incorporated.
Slowly incorporate the reserved pasta water until a slightly starchy sauce appears in the bottom of the bowl.
Gradually add the grated cheese until it’s incorporated, adding additional pasta water until the sauce achieves the desired viscosity. Season with ground black pepper.
Use tongs to serve the finished dish on two pasta plates.
Optionally garnish with chopped parsley. Eat and enjoy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fettuccine alfredo is a Roman pasta dish that’s notable for its simplicity as well as its creaminess.
Fettuccine Alfredo was invented in Rome centuries ago.
Fettuccine Pasta, Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, Butter, Parsley, Pepper and Salt
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Preheat an oven to 200°f / 100°c. Place a large ceramic mixing bowl inside the oven.
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Bring water (about 1 liter or 1 quart) with the salt to boil in a medium sized saucepan. Once the salted water is boiling, drop in the pasta and cook according to instructions, stirring constantly.
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During the last minute of pasta cooking, pull the ceramic bowl from the oven. Place the softened butter into heated bowl and flatten the butter with your hand or a spoon.
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Reserve about a cup of water from the pasta pot using a heat proof measuring cup. Remove the cooked pasta from the pot with either tongs or strain it through a colander and immediately place the pasta into the bowl with the butter. (If using a colander, immediately transfer the pasta to the bowl after straining it.)
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Mix the pasta with the butter, adding about 1/4 of the pasta water. Keep mixing until the butter begins to thicken at the bottom of the bowl. Add the parmigiano-reggiano about a quarter at a time and mix, adding the remaining pasta water to the bowl, until the sauce reaches a desired thickness and consistency.
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Serve in small pasta bowls. Optionally garnish with fresh parsley.
- Grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese using the small diamond setting of your grater for best results.
- We recommend dry egg pasta for the best consistency and results.
