Nom-Able

It’s hard to write a piece about anything when you have a belly full of Thierry & Guy Fat Bastard wine and you’re watching Eddie Izzard, which is the situation I find myself in right now. Oh, and I’m rather stuffed to the gills with a pretty good summer version of Fettucine Alfredo.

“Alfredo sauce? In the summer? You’re joking!” I hear you say. And I’d usually say that you’re right. But, in the words of Buzz Lightyear, “Not Today!”

The secret to the sauce is light cream cheese and Parmesan cheese — I used Grand Padano, but let your preference guide you — which thickens the white sauce of butter, flour, and milk that you make before hand.

From boiling water to the table, the entire recipe took half an hour, which was perfect, since I felt pretty damn lazy last night, especially with allergies killing me and the Zyrtec-D I took to fend off those allergies leaving me a little loopy.

Healthier Fettucine Alfredo

Adapted from The Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 c. milk
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c. low-fat cream cheese
• 1 c. broccoli, fresh
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced in long strips
• fettucine (4 cups, cooked)

DIRECTIONS
1. Get the water boiling and start the pasta according to package directions. (I used Barilla pasta, so that’s 12 minutes)
2. With 6 minutes left to go on the pasta, melt the butter in a separate sauce pan medium heat
3. Cook the garlic for about 30 seconds, then add in the flour. Cook for another 30 seconds.
4. With about 4 minutes left on the pasta, put the veggies, in a steamer, over the the pasta pot. Cover.
5. Add in the milk. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes
6. Add in the cheese & cream cheese, plus about a 1/4 tsp each pepper and salt. Continue to cook.
8. Pull steamer basket off of pasta pot when pasta is finished, and dump steamed vegetables into sauce. Drain pasta, then toss with sauce and veg and serve.