Alfredo Sauce (With Fettuccine) for July SRC!

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When V and I had gone to Ogden, Utah, for a week, we ate at this restaurant called Jasoh. I don’t remember now what V ordered, but I had ordered this alfredo fettuccine served with mushrooms and duck, topped with a chocolate gastrique. It was sooooooo good!

A gastrique is a reduction of vinegar and sugar brought to light caramelization, to which a little stock is added. It is a base to which many other ingredients, or just a few, can be added to form a sauce. It is generally used to create a sweet and sour sauce.

This was the first time I had eaten something savory that had chocolate in it and was really happy to have been adventurous enough to try it! I really wanted to try cooking the chocolate gastrique on fettuccine alfredo, but never got around to doing it.

So, when I was given “From Apples to Zucchini” for my this month’s SRC assignment, I was glad to know Pam had a recipe for Alfredo sauce. I had to give Pam’s recipe a try!

In From Apples to Zucchini, Pam focuses on recipes that feed her family responsibly, with as much nutrition as possible.  She takes great pride in remaking recipes to be healthier, lower in fat and calories than the original, just to prove that healthy doesn’t mean boring and tasteless. The discovery of this site couldn’t come at a better time- I have resolved that this time I am going to take my weight loss program seriously and I have a feeling Pam will be of great help!

Her version of the alfredo sauce is considerably less in fat than the actual version and still tastes great. Its an easy recipe and V and I enjoyed eating it. I also made the chocolate gastrique to go with it but was not as successful- of course, with some tweaks I made it good enough but not like how I had it at Jasoh. And since there were so many afterthought additions, there is no recipe that I can write here today.

Although the gastrique recipe is still a work in progress, Pam’s alfredo sauce recipe is a keeper! Its an easy recipe and as Pam points out its really light in calories as well!

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SPINACH MUSHROOM FETTUCCINE

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Creamy spinach and mushroom fettuccine recipe is the perfect vegetarian pasta dish  for date night or when you want something special on your weeknight!

creamy spinach and mushroom fettucine

Edited to add on May 3, 2018: This recipe for creamy spinach mushroom fettuccine went live first in August 2010. The recipe is from a special edition that Femina India had come out with that showcased restaurant favorite recipes including this one for mushroom fettuccine. I have made this pasta recipe several times since then but forgot to update the blog. I have also lightened up the mushroom fettuccine a bit from the original one. Its still not a calorie free recipe but it tastes delicious so I am not complaining. The pictures have been updated, and like all previous posts that I reshoot, original pics have been kept too to keep reminding me where I started and how far I have come. The pasta in the pictures above is also homemade and I used The Prairie Homestead’s fresh pasta recipe

Original Post:

I finally completed my second trunk yesterday. With that, Project Trunk is under wraps! Finally! This called for a celebration!

I had mushrooms lying in my fridge for some time now. V hates mushrooms- well hate would be too strong a word, but he is NOT a fan. I like mushrooms a lot. But, its quite ironical that growing up, I hated all dishes that had mushrooms in them.

Then, one fateful day (boy, do I like to dramatize things!), my friend from college, called us for lunch at her home. She made this garlic mushroom bread that was awesome and since then I have been in love with mushrooms.

creamy spinach mushroom fettucine

Lot of people believe that it takes one dish to change a person’s opinion about a vegetable. And, I am a living proof of that!

So I thought I’ll try to get V to change his mind about mushrooms, and decided to make this pasta recipe I got from a special cookbook edition of Femina. The recipe is the same one that they use at Pizza Hut for their creamy Spinach Mushroom fettuccine. The first time I tried this recipe was while visiting home, and I made it for a party my parents were throwing. Everyone loved it. I made it again at my aunt’s place- it didn’t come out as good as the first time- there were some ingredient issues- but still was liked.

This was my third time, and this time the dish had a mission- to turn V to a mushroom lover. I had to get this one right! So, I set the table and went all out- they say people eat with their eyes first and I hoped that for V the first impression would be the last one.

creamy spinach mushroom fettucine

V loved it- a lot! Proof..u ask? Look at the pics at the end. Its still too early to say whether he is a mushroom convert, but well, its safe to say that he will happily eat this dish again.

It does use a lot of cream though- but luckily, I had just one small packet of cream, and thus could not use the whole amount asked for. It still turned out great.

(P.S. : V got me those flowers!:))

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