?Lite? Salmon Fettuccine Alfredo

The Bennett crew loves a good fettuccine laced with plenty of homemade alfredo sauce and parmesan cheese.  And every bite of rich, thick dreaminess draws out the ooohs and the ahhhs from my fettuccine loving family. 

However, there are times when a “lighter” alfredo is preferred.  I’ll tell you right now, I’m not a “light” sauce kind of gal.  Typically, I like the real deal or none at all.  Call me stubborn, but food should be enjoyed and savored, not tolerated.  So, with this in mind, I headed to the kitchen to test some sauces. 

There are quite a few light alfredo sauce recipes floating around, and you may already have a few in your recipe collection.  What I wanted to achieve was the same rich thick texture of an original alfredo without using heavy cream.  Traditional alfredo is typically prepared with butter, heavy cream, eggs and parmesan.  Other alfredo sauce recipes are simply butter, heavy cream and parmesan. 

I ended up with a bechamel sort of sauce prepared with a little butter, a little flour, 2% milk and cut with a little white wine.  You can certainly substitute chicken broth for the wine and also prepare the sauce with 1% milk.  By adding a bit of fresh chopped shallot, garlic and fresh herbs, my light sauce was transformed into a rich and flavorful alfredo that complimented the fettuccine.  Add some pan seared or grilled salmon, or for you poultry lovers, diced fresh grilled or roasted chicken would be absolutely tasty. 

Try a new type of fettuccine with your light alfredo.  I am completely in love with the ancient grain Einkorn pasta by Jovial.  Made in Italy with an ancient species of wheat, its nutty flavor is exceptional and has a high protein, fiber and B vitamin content.  Sounds to healthy to be delicious?  I thought so as well, but the flavor is so rich and complex you’ll find yourself eating the pasta right out of the pasta pot! 

Keep dinner simple… Enjoy the flavors of life!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup shallots

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (mixed with fresh thyme or oregano if you wish)

2 tablespoons flour

½ cup white wine

2 cups milk (whole, 2% or 1%)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

¼ cup parmesan

1 lb salmon, cooked and flaked with bones removed (either roasted, grilled or pan seared)

1 lb fettuccine ? cooked as directed on package

Squeeze of lemon

Directions

Begin by having all your sauce ingredients near the stove top; butter, shallots, garlic, herbs, flour, wine, milk, parmesan, salt and pepper. This sauce cooks quickly so you?ll want the ingredients mise en place (everything in its place). 

In a medium sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Once the butter is melted and frothy, whisk in the shallots, garlic and herbs. Continue stirring until the shallots are wilted, but be careful not to burn the garlic.

Turn the heat to medium high and whisk in the flour, as if you were making a roux.  Continue whisking the mixture for a minute or two, allowing the flour to cook a bit. 

Whisk in the white wine.  The flour mixture will immediately thicken up and the wine will evaporate quickly, this should only take 30 seconds to a minute. 

Then whisk in the milk.  Continue whisking until the sauce smooths and comes to a light boil.  

Turn the heat down to a lively simmer and continue to whisk until the sauce begins to thicken.  This will take about 5-8 minutes depending on the size of your pan. 

Once the sauce begins to thicken, add the parmesan cheese and taste for salt and pepper.  Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and toss to coat each strand of pasta in the sauce.  Add a little more parmesan if you like (I love extra parm!). 

Make sure the salmon is flaked and bones removed.  Gently toss the salmon in the pasta, or plate the pasta and layer the salmon on top. 

Garnish with chopped fresh Italian parsley and more cheese!

Options:  substitute the salmon with grilled, pan seared or roasted chicken pieces? delicious!

Just for fun? try different types of Italian cheese.  Fontina, Romano, and Asiago would also be complimentary to this dish.