Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo Sauce

Let’s face it. Nothing quite compares to Heavy Cream which is used as the main ingredient in Alfredo. Heavy cream can make anything bad taste good, not to mention butter and bacon. I think that Alfredo sauce is probably one of the hardest dishes to make lighter.

I used 1% milk instead of the 2% the recipe called for. That would have probably made the sauce a little bit richer. There is also fat-free half-and-half, but I can never find that in the grocery stores. Is there such a thing as Fat-Free Heavy Cream???  It calls for butter and parmesan cheese too. HELLO?! That’s like impossible to find ingredients to replace all that yummy goodness with. I thought this recipe did a good job of trying to make it lighter and it still tasted good. Like I said before, nothing compares to the real sauce. If you ever feel like indulging this is the dish to make.

Pictures re-taken on 7/9/15 Look below at the one that’s grey. Yuck.

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Recipe from Food Network Magazine

Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo Sauce

• Author: Jenna

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1 cup low-fat (1%) milk

Kosher salt

2 tablespoons Neufchtel or low-fat cream cheese

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

12 ounces fresh fettuccine

Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Make the sauce: Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook until the garlic is slightly soft about 1 minute. Add in the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon,1 minute. Whisk in the milk and 3/4 teaspoon salt and cook, whisking constantly until just thickened about 3 minutes. Add the Neufchatel and parmesan cheese; whisk until melted, about 1 minute. Stir in the chopped parsley.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta and return to the pot.
3. Add the sauce and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water to the pasta and gently toss to combine, adding more cooking water as needed to loosen. Season with salt. Divide among bowls and top with parmesan and pepper.
4. Per serving: Calories 490; Fat 15 g (Saturated 8 g); Cholesterol 48 mg; Sodium 734 mg; Carbohydrate 66 g; Fiber 3 g; Protein 20 g

Notes

Smart Points: 10

Makes 6 servings