Linguine Alfredo, the right way… Guilt-free decadence

Why do we always think we have to improve everything?

Why do we feel the need to tinker?

Why do we not just accept that some things are at their best just as they are.

Is a perfect, sun-ripened, just picked tomato actually improved by a 'drizzle of truffle-infused extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of sea salt from the Camargue and a shaving of aged Parmesan'?

Maybe it's the ego of the cook that's improved by doing all that…. The tomato doesn't need it.

Does a well-made, naturally creamy risotto really need to be 'finished with 4 tablespoons of butter' as many US chefs like to advocate?   (I recall listening to a debate on the Food Network in the US about how fattening risotto was…. I've been making risotto of all types for years and had no idea what they were talking about.  Then I heard the butter bit – yikes!)

If 1/4 cup of heavy cream is good – does it necessarily follow that a whole cup is better?

I've been a wee bit behind on my magazine reading this past year, but I used the trip to Bordeaux (to take my cook top in for repair – again) to do some catching up.  One of the articles I read was in Saveur on the real Alfredo sauce.

You know, as in Fettuccine Alfredo?  Aka: Heart Attack on a Plate?

It turns out that the real version, luscious and creamy though it is, doesn't have any heavy cream in it.

Nor any medium cream or light cream.  Or cream cheese.  Or mascarpone.

It was a simple dish of 3 ingredients: pasta, butter, Parmesan.

Okay, so the real version required actual effort, as in careful tossing, stirring, and fussing, to make those 3 ingredients into the perfect dish that it is.  It's much easier just to heat up some heavy cream and not bother with the work.

But is it better?

The author said 'No'.  Adding the cream and bacon fat or whatever other things a particular recipe called for masked the purity of the main ingredients.  It didn't enhance them.

Much like that perfect tomato.

Naturally, I had to accept this (in my own mind) challenge.

I was stunned with the results.

So, here is another easy, 3 4 ingredient recipe from Thyme for Cooking.

Okay, I couldn't resist either…. I had to tinker….

My problem was with the amount of butter the actual recipe called for – lots and lots.  I substituted just a wee bit of Greek yogurt for some of it.  (she ducks….)

It was the best Alfredo sauce I've made, full of flavor and I could enjoy it without guilt.

Can't say much for the photo though….

Linguine Alfredo