Alfredo is Simple!!?

My alfredo at school was, it would seem, legendary.  It was at least delicious, and sure to give you a heart attack.

But I was doing it all wrong, apparently.  Last week my mother and I caught an episode of Lydia's Italy in America (way to go PBS with those show names; people will totally watch them now...).  It happened to be a 'basics' episode about pasta.  Not making it fresh or anything, but just how to whip up a good, delicious, pasta dish and the few tricks you need to pull it off.

It also results in a much lighter and stronger alfredo.  That's good for two reasons: less fat, and you end up using less to get the same flavor.  Plus the whole thing only takes as long as it takes the pasta to cook.

So the basics are these: cook your pasta to less than al dente.  Before it gets to that point, cook up your sauce ingredients, like oil and veggies, in a pan.  Remove the pasta from the water using something like a spider or a handled strainer and put it directly into the pan.  Add a splash or two of the pasta water, and finish the pasta off in the pan.  Right before serving, melt in your cheese.  And you're done.

The undercooked pasta absorbs the flavors of the sauce in the pan as you finish it off and the pasta starch in the water acts as a binding agent in the sauce, making it hold together and stick to the pasta.  The cheese is last because cooking cheese releases the aromatics that make it taste yummy, so you should add it last thing to keep the flavor bold.  So sayeth Lydia, goddess of day-time Italian food.

When I make my alfredo now, it starts as some butter and olive oil in the pan.  You fry up some onions first, then add tomato chunks (preferably peeled and gutted; look up riposte) and some salt and pepper; a fresh herb would be good too, Lydia used sage in her's.  Toss in pasta, through in some whole milk (or cream), a teaspoon or so of lemon juice, and let it cook a while below full frying temperature until you think the pasta is done.  Throw in some feta and parmesan, and stir well to mix.  And then its like heaven.

Last night I made it with broccoli; that was a good choice.  Thank you Lydia for your secrets.