I have always loved Alfredo sauce, ever since I was a kid. For that reason, the day I discovered I could make a quick cream sauce out ingredients I almost always have on hand, I was ecstatic! All you need is:

• 1.5 Tbs Butter
• 1 Tbs White Flour
• 1/3 cup Milk (any kind, I keep 1% on hand)
• 4 Peeled whole garlic cloves, halved if large (technically optional)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (optional but delicious)

The quantities above are for a big single serving and are estimated. Although it may take a few practice attempts to get this sauce nailed, I hope you’ll find that you can eye-ball the and it still comes out delicious every time!

First melt your butter in a medium saucepan and toss in the garlic. We basically are flavoring the butter so once it just starts to brown remove the cloves and move on to the next step. Be careful not to have your stove too hot or the butter will brown before the garlic flavor can get infused in! This is also when I add Salt and Pepper although you can wait until the very end if you prefer.

From this point on you want to have a whisk glued to your right hand. I like the flexible rubber kind becuase they can get into the corners of the pan. Start by adding 1 Tbs of flour, sprinkling and whisking the whole time. This creates a roux.

Next you add in your milk, again pouring and whisking constantly. Immediately add cheese (if using) right after the milk. Now you keep whisking, and whisking, and whisking until the sauce finally becomes thick (usually about 3 minutes but it feels much longer when you’re whisking).

Ta-da your sauce is done!

Hopefully you have been cooking your pasta this whole time so you can get right to enjoying your meal! One trick I love is to blanch your choice of veggies in the boiling pasta water (pre-pasta) for about 5 minutes first.

Then add your pasta (whole wheat bow-ties for me!)

And finally you have a meal fit for a hungry king!