Trouble with alfredo sauce

[Clutch_n_Meth]

I made up some linguini pasta with chicken and broccoli and had a jar of Ragu alfredo sauce warmed up. I added extra cheese to it before cooking. Once I mixed it all together the sauce seemed to dry out. The pasta was sticking but not to the point of clumping up. I'd go to pick out just a little of it and I would get more than I wanted.

Is it me or should the sauce coat the pasta to keep it from sticking?

Oh, BTW, it was the 1/3 lower fat alfredo sauce.

[Clutch_n_Meth]

30 views and no one knows?

Well, I think I may have figured it out anyway. I don't think I put enough sauce in the pasta. That's what I think the problem might have been. I had a pound of pasta and a small jar of the sauce.

[Jock]

I've never used a jar alfredo sauce so I can't speak to this one. A common trick to thin out sauces to the right consistency is to add a little of the pasta water. Save a cup or so before you drain the pasta and add enough to the pasta once it has been sauced to get the texture you want.

Alfredo is just cream, butter and cheese with a dash of nutmeg. It's almost all fat; no wonder it's called a heart attack on a plate!

Jock

[Clutch_n_Meth]

That's why we only have it once a month if that much. LOL!!

I'll give that a try next time. Thanks for the tip.

Clutch

[Luc_H]

Hi Clutch_n_Meth,

this is a common problem particularly with any Alfredo sauce. As with Jock, I never buy Alfredo sauce in a jar. I have worked hard to make lower fat version of the classic sauce with some success.

Anyway, here are possible explanations:
Processed food are made to be consistent in the jar and after cooking so adding cheese to the sauce may have changed that balance.
Freshly cooked hot pasta dries quickly so will soak up any water around it i.e. from the sauce which will thicken the sauce. Jock diluting technique works to correct this. You could have added milk also.
In your recipe, even the chicken would have soaked up some water out of the sauce depending on how dry it was.

Nice to hear you will try it again (that is the trick to being better at cooking: trying again and tweaking).

Luc H.

[CRLevesque]

I confer. I make Alfredo every day at work and if it dries out milk or cream will make it bounce back. a lb. of pasta is quite a bit since you should figure 4 oz. per serving. so check the jar and match accordingly.

[Clutch_n_Meth]

Originally Posted by Luc_H

Hi Clutch_n_Meth,

In your recipe, even the chicken would have soaked up some water out of the sauce depending on how dry it was.

Luc H.

Believe me, my chicken wasn't soaking up anything. I cook my chicken to perfection. It was perfectly done. Usually when I finish making chicken and put it into a container, the next time I open the container there is a layer or juices in the bottom and it is soooooo good! Took me forever to hone that skill. LOL!!

The problem with trying over and over again is, we don't eat pasta much and even rarer is the event where we have it in alfredo sauce. Usually when we have pasta (wheat pasta only), it's doused with a splash of EVOO and not the primerary ingrediant of the meal.

I only buy the jar stuff cause both of our lives are so busy right now. She's going to school and working full time. I work full time at the local community hospital and all of my free time is devoted to building my financial business. We've normally got only about an hour or two at night before we go to bed to spend time together and if I get up in the morning (early), we'll have another 1-2 hours. Unfortunately, I never manage to get up early.

Dinner is usually "just throw something together" or we cook extra one night to have dinner set for the next. Between that, Lean Cuisine and Jose Ole, we're good to go. LOL!!!

[bluezebra]

Hi CnM,

Here's an article in the NYTimes that a poster on another site put up yesterday. It's pretty interesting for ideas. 101 ways to cook dinner in 10 minutes or less.

Sorry! It was the wrong link!!! There is a cookbook to buy there but the article goes down the list too...especially if you click to print to a pdf it will give it to you all numbered. I know that Lean Cuisine etc has it's place! Heck, when I'm sick nothing will do but Stauffer's Mac n Cheese! Go figure eh?

Here is the right link!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/di...ng&oref=slogin

But I do believe that you save money and health by cooking from scratch no matter how delicious the prepared product is! In less than 5 minutes I can whip up an Alfredo-ish sauce that isn't swimmin in fat (although God help me, I love the butter delivery system that is a great Alfredo!) that you can eat everyday without consequences...and I don't have the probs with the sketti/linguini. I also believe the trick is not to overcook. Don't strain/drain. I simply pick it out of the pot with tongs and into the saute pan it goes per individual order and shake with the sauce, add a splash of pasta water if needed, toss with sauce, salt pepper, grate a smidge of cheese and Bob's Your Uncle!

[Clutch_n_Meth]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

But I do believe that you save money and health by cooking from scratch no matter how delicious the prepared product is! In less than 5 minutes I can whip up an Alfredo-ish sauce that isn't swimmin in fat (although God help me, I love the butter delivery system that is a great Alfredo!) that you can eat everyday without consequences...and I don't have the probs with the sketti/linguini. I also believe the trick is not to overcook. Don't strain/drain. I simply pick it out of the pot with tongs and into the saute pan it goes per individual order and shake with the sauce, add a splash of pasta water if needed, toss with sauce, salt pepper, grate a smidge of cheese and Bob's Your Uncle!

I agree whole-heartedly here. I much prefer to cook things from scratch than get that micro-box crud. The only one of those I've found to be good are the panini ones and at that, they are lacking. My speciality is boneless chix breasts with a splash of heat, but that's another thread.

I'll try leaving it in the water next time, it makes more than enough sense to do it that way. The hard part would be the leftovers. I'd have to coat that in sauce. Ehhh, anyhoo, next time I make pasta, I'm splashing a little evoo over the top and leaving it at that.