So my wife had a hankering for chicken broccoli alfredo last night; it’s probably her favorite dish in the world. I am more of a carbonara man myself. As the saying goes though, happy wife; happy life.
So I started by making the fettuccine noodles and grabbed some flour and eggs.
I dumped four cups of flour into my mixing bowl. They make all sorts of fancy different types of flour but I just use all purpose.
I created a hole in the middle of the flour and cracked four eggs into it. If a little leaks out it’s okay; don’t freak out.
I started whisking the eggs up and gently pulling flour into the mixture; incorporating the two.
Depending on the size of your eggs you may need to add more. Just added one at a time and start mixing by hand; kneading the pasta dough till you get a slightly tacky to the touch dough ball. I ended up adding two more eggs. You can just sprinkle more flour onto it and continue kneading if it gets too sticky.
With fettuccine you want to divide your dough into slightly smaller portions so you do not end up with eight foot long sheets. Once you have them divided let them rest for several minutes while you assemble your pasta maker. If you do not have one; you can use a rolling pin. It just takes longer and is a lot more work.
Take a pasta ball and flatten it out as much as possible with your hand on a cutting board. Sprinkle it with flour and send it through the roller on the largest setting. Sprinkle it with flour again.
Keep sending it through on a lower setting each time and flouring between each roll. With fettuccine I usually stop right before the lowest setting so that I have a thicker noodle. The lowest setting I usually reserve for spaghetti and ravioli only. You should end up with a sheet like this.
Lift up the end of the pasta sheet that just came out of the rollers and set it in the wider pasta cutting wheel. Move the handle into the slot and start cranking. If you use a rolling pin, just use a knife to cut your noodles.
You can get the same model pasta roller here.
http://www.amazon.com/Marcato-Atlas-Wellness-Pasta-Stainless/dp/B0009U5OSO
Your noodles will start coming out the other end. Once you have six to eight inches out, use your hand and drape the noodles over it to help guide them out.
I usually lay them on wax paper as I process each dough ball. If you floured liberally between each rolling, you should not have any issues with the pasta sticking.
Now to make the alfredo.
- Two large heads of broccoli.
- Two pints of heavy cream.
- Ten ounces of shredded parmesan.
- One stick of butter.
- Twelve ounces of diced chicken we had leftover from the night previous.
- Tomatoes.
Start by melting the stick of butter.
Pour in the heavy cream.
Start chopping up the broccoli.
I had to.
I usually go for about a one inch floret.
Now there are a couple things you could do with this.
- Nothing, just add it in when everything is all done.
- Steam it and add it in when everything is all done.
- Add it to the pasta water and boil them together.
- Add it to the Alfredo Sauce to cook it.
I add mine to the sauce.
While that is cooking, I diced up some tomato.
After about ten minutes the alfredo should be simmering pretty good and the broccoli should be almost cooked. Be careful not to have the heat too high so that you scorch the cream. Once I get a simmer going, I usually turn the heat back as low as possible.
Dump the parmesan in once the broccoli has the texture you desire and kill the heat.
Stir the alfredo and the parmesan will quickly incorporate itself into the sauce. Since our chicken is pre-cooked. it can be added at this time. The sauce will heat it up and melt it.
Now is the time you want to add any seasonings. Adding them at the end will make sure you get the full flavor of them. I added some salt, pepper and garlic.
Mix it up and your alfredo sauce is complete.
Cooking raw pasta goes much faster than store bought; so now is the time to add your pasta to your water. I usually start my water boiling the same time I start the alfredo. That way the water is ready when the sauce is. You might want to cut your pasta in half as well depending on how long it is.
Once the pasta is finished, drain it and dump it into a large baking dish. You can use a large bowl as well, or whatever else you have on hand. Just make sure it’s big, this is a large recipe.
Pour your alfredo over the noodles and mix it all together.
Garnish with tomatoes and parmesan cheese.
Dinner is served. If you wanted to, you could set this in the oven for thirty to forty minutes and bake it. I prefer it just as it is.
