Fettucini Alfredo with Broccoli

The easiest recipe of all time. Late last night I was looking for a substantial meal, without the work. Something pasta-ie. Unfortunately my go-to pasta cookbook ("The Joy of Pasta") didn't have the recipe I was craving--anything Alfredo. So I turned, yet again, to my Pasta Queen mother.  She might have used 50 characters via text message when telling me how to prepare this meal which consisted of four true ingredients: pasta, heavy cream, parmesan cheese and Wondra.

  The first thing I did was put the water on to boil for the pasta. I didn't have any fettucini in the apartment, so I used a mix of regular and whole wheat linguini- just as good. Anything thinner, such as angel hair, would probably conflict with the texture of the sauce.

 Once the water came to a boil the pasta went in and I started on the sauce.  Now broccoli isn't in her original recipe.  I had a random memory of the first night my grandmother had come to stay with us this summer, we ate tortellini alfredo with broccoli and she loved it.  Interestingly enough my mother had used fat free half and half instead of heavy cream, which is ideal for people watching their figure.
I first put the frozen broccoli in water and microwaved it for about 7 minutes.  I was really feeling lazy last night.


Then in a sauce pan I put 3/4 C of Heavy Cream with Parmesan Cheese.  The flame should be very low, the light sauce burns very easily.  While watching and whisking every so often I created the second part to the sauce.  In  a separate bowl I added two tbsp of Wondra (this thickens the mixture) and a small amount of Heavy Cream just to make it pasty.  Once it was smooth I added it right to the Parmesan and HC. I only added more Parmesan and black pepper to taste. This left the sauce overall a little flavor-less when it was time to eat, but I think it was because the pasta to sauce ratio was wrong.  My mom had not told me until after I finished eating, naturally, that she usually adds onion and garlic powders.

Regardless, the texture was creamier than most I've eaten in restaurants. With a little salt and some onion powder that alfredo sauce has the potential to be the cheapest and easiest recipe I've tried yet.