Tuesday Night Dinner: Broccoli Fettucine Alfredo

I've only made alfredo a couple times, and with each effort, I think it gets increasingly better. This alfredo sauce was pretty good, and made for a satisfying Tuesday night dinner (and leftovers). I found the recipe through FoodGawker, and the recipe itself is on A Cozy Kitchen. I added the broccoli myself. I love broccoli in my fettucine alfredo.

Broccoli Fettucine Alfredo (recipe adapted from A Cozy Kitchen)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tbsp cream cheese
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
4 cups cooked fettucine
broccoli crown, chopped

Cook fettucine according to directions. Prepare a pot of boiling water for the broccoli and cook a couple minutes until desired tenderness. Set pasta and broccoli aside. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute one minute. Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds. The butter and flour thicken together, and then you gradually whisk in the milk until fully blended. Stir constantly and cook 8 minutes or until mixture is thick and bubbly. I would recommend using a whisk here to stir. Add in cream cheese and cook for 2 more minutes. Add 1 cup of the Parmesan. Toss pasta, broccoli and alfredo sauce together and top with extra Parmesan cheese.

Mushroom Alfredo

For dinner tonight, I decided to throw together a mushroom alfredo for me and my sister. When using mushrooms, I always use brown mushrooms or baby bellas. They just taste better to me. I found this recipe online from a blogger and the entire meal came together really quickly. My sauce was a little thick, but otherwise delicious. Only a few years ago, I never cooked, and it occasionally surprises me now how much I love it. And how often I go grocery shopping and think, I could do that myself.

Mushroom Alfredo
spaghetti
package of sliced brown mushrooms
one small diced onion
three cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper
half stick of butter
1/4 cup of flour
2 or 2 1/2 cups of milk
1/3 cup of heavy cream
handful of Parmesan cheese

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Drizzle and toss with a little olive oil to prevent noodles from sticking.
Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms and saute until tender. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over mixture. Add flour and toss to coat. Add milk and cream and stir until sauce thickens. When sauce thickens, add a handful of Parmesan cheese and stir as it melts in. Remove sauce from heat and serve over spaghetti. Sprinkle a little more Parmesan on top.

Chicken, Broccoli, and Mushroom Alfredo

I've been a terrible updater, I know. And for those of our readers who don't know, Sarah Michelle's absence is due to the fact that she's working at a camp in Hawaii this summer. I haven't even posted Wednesday night dinner, but there hasn't been much of a Wednesday night dinner recently with people being gone. Brad and I went out for dinner one week, then there was a canceled dinner, then last night, Brad and I went out for dinner again. The Wednesday night dinners will resume eventually. But tonight, I bring you Chicken, Broccoli and Baby Bella Alfredo.

Alfredo sauce is one of those things that should be remarkably easy to make and yet, I have never been satisfied with my alfredo sauce. But my parents are out of town this week and I'm making dinner for my sisters and one of them requested pasta and the other requested white sauce. I didn't love tonight's sauce, but it was my best attempt yet. And when it turned out that I had misjudged how much sauce I needed, I whipped up a terrific bechamel sauce to add to what I had previously made. Winging it for the win.

Recipe:
pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
chicken breasts
broccoli crowns
sliced baby bella mushrooms
Parmesan cheese, shredded
milk
butter
flour
salt
pepper

Heat olive oil in pan over medium high heat and brown sliced chicken breasts. Remove chicken and add mushrooms and broccoli to pan with a few tablespoons of water. Cook till mushrooms are tender and broccoli is firm, yet tender. Remove from heat. Melt butter in pan, whisk in milk, and then slowly whisk in tablespoon of flour. Sauce should thicken slightly, then whisk in Parmesan. Whisk continuously until cheese melts and sauce is desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss in chicken, veggies and pasta.

And if you happen to need a bechamel, because you, like me, don't measure, just whisk together more butter, milk and flour. I start with a tablespoon of flour and add until I reach the desired thickness.

Creamy Gnocchi with Veggies

1 package potato Gnocchi

1 jar Newman's Own Alfredo Sauce

7-8 stalks of Asparagus

1/2 cup frozen Peas

1/2 Yellow Onion (chopped)

EVOO

Garlic Salt

Pepper

1. Trim asparagus. Lay out on a baking sheet, sprinkle with EVOO and garlic salt on both sides. Put in the oven at 350 until softened (? until it's done, Kiddo), about 5-9 minutes.

2. Cook Gnocchi according to package.

3. Heat up peas in microwave, about 1 minute.

4. When Gnocchi begin to rise, sauté chopped onion with some EVOO. 

5. Drain Gnocchi. Heat up alfredo sauce. Cut asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Mix it all together. Pepper to taste.

---Review---

I've never been able to find a canned alfredo sauce that I like, and this one is ok. It's kind of salty. I really just love Olive Garden's alfredo sauce. Use that if you can get it.

Pretty good and an easy way to sneak some vegetables into your diet.