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If you're a little confused by all of this, then trust us, you're not alone. We still can't believe we haven't been eating authentic Alfredo sauce all these years, but now we understand the difference between the popular version and the original:

What is important is the recipe itself, and, according to David Downie in his excellent Cooking the Roman Way, it contains absolutely no cream, black pepper, or other ingredients beyond pasta, cheese, butter, and salt. (Downie knew the grandson of the original Alfredo, and learned the recipe from him, so we can be pretty confident that he's got his facts right.)

Even without the cream and other ingredients, though, that original recipe is still a doozy: For a single pound of fresh pasta, Alfredo added two-thirds of a cup of butter and more than a quarter-pound of cheese. That's overkill by just about any standard, and so my mission here is a simple one. I want to offer a slightly modified version of the original that creates a similarly creamy, cheesy, buttery sauce without it being quite so grotesque in its proportions.

So, are you as intrigued by this as we were? Great! Then here's the method so you can make this rich and creamy Alfredo sauce right at home:

Making it is incredibly easy. In a large, heatproof bowl, you'll want to combine the grated cheese and diced butter. For emulsified cheese sauces like this, it's best to grate the cheese on the small holes of a box grater: The tiny bits of box-grated cheese melt into the sauce better and more evenly than the larger shavings from something like a microplane.

Then, cook the pasta—preferably fresh egg noodles—in salted boiling water. No need for a large pot here, you want the water as starch-rich as it can get. Finally, transfer the pasta to the bowl of cheese and butter, add about a half cup of that starchy pasta water, and toss well until the butter melts and a creamy, emulsified sauce forms and coats each noodle in a satiny glaze. The starchy pasta water is essential to helping hold that emulsion and prevent the sauce from separating in a greasy, broken mess. If it's too dry, just add another splash or two of pasta water.

Then transfer it to plates and top with more grated cheese. This is a fettuccine Alfredo that trims the excess but still leaves the indulgence firmly in place. If only I'd know this was an option when I was a kid.

We're still a little in shock that what we've been enjoying all these years wasn't the real thing. However, we think the original version sounds great and we can't wait to try it. Have you had the original Alfredo sauce? What did you think of it? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Article Source: Serious Eats