Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Being the italian girl that I am, I love my classic marinara sauce. My mom makes an out of this world crazy awesome one that I could drink through a straw. I had never even tried alfredo in a restaurant until taking a bite of a friend's dish a few years back. It was quite good, but so much different than the red sauce that I grew up with. I'd take the red stuff any day. But Lover lovesss his pasta dripping with creamy alfredo.

So one day I went searching for a recipe. I wasn't looking for a light version, but came upon this popular one from Our Best Bites and thought I'd give it a go. It's just about 100 calories per ¼ cup. They insisted it didn't taste “light” and allow me to attest that it absolutely does not. It's creamy, delicious and full of flavor! Totally better than a lot of restaurant alfredos out there, and light years better than anything you can pick up at the grocery store. Jarred alfredo = no bueno my friends.

Enjoy this over pasta, as a dip for breadsticks or a sauce for pizza. I chose tortellini this time. Have I mentioned this is super quick and easy? The only con is you will have to whip out your blender or food processor. And then wash it. Which I try to avoid. But in this case, it's totally worth it.

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

serves 6-8

adapted from Our Best Bites

• 2 cups low fat milk (1% or 2%)
  
• 1/3 cup (3 oz) neufchatel (1/3 less fat cream cheese)
  
• 2-3 tablespoons flour
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 Tablespoon butter
  
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
  
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  

Place milk, cream cheese, flour and salt in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth, 2 to 4 minutes. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat and add garlic. Saute about 30 second, careful not to burn it.

Add milk mixture to the pan and stir constantly for 4 minutes or until it comes to a simmer. Keep stirring, letting it cook a few minutes more until it thickens up quite a bit.

When it's nice and thick, remove it from the heat and add the cheese. Stir it up and cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving. It will continue to thicken up while it sits. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Note that this sauce will thicken to a solid in the fridge. Just reheat and add a little milk and you'll be good to go.

P.S. Check out my super cute pasta bowl that I made with my sister at Color-Me-Mine in Utah! Back when we were living in the same state we always did some sort of project there to celebrate our birthdays. Those were the days!

Poor G has been doped up on meds fighting the second flu he has caught in just one month! He's super stressed studying for his big med school test, the boards, so I think his little immune system has been thrown for a loop. Still we've been managing to have a little weekend fun. Here's us at our new favorite Chinese restaurant, attending our first UVA football game, eating steak at Outback, checking out a light show at Piedmont, and doing our civic duty. Happy New Year everyone! Christmas pictures to come soon!