I’ve been meaning to do this recipe for a while now since it’s quite a cheap meal to make as well as meatless, so it would’ve fit well in last month’s theme, but since I usually eat this meal for my Friday fasts normally, I thought I would highlight it for this month.
Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo is something I love making since it’s such a simple and easy meal to make, and you can typically make a ton of food all at once, using ingredients you can already find in your pantry or fridge. Even if you don’t have fettuccine noodles, you can easily substitute it with any other noodles you have on hand and it will turn out just as delicious.
Speaking of substitutes, for those who are doing a more restrictive fast this Lenten season, you can replace the animal products such as the butter with oil instead, as well as the cheese sauce with tomato sauce. Of course, it won’t be considered alfredo anymore, but it will still be delicious. Though, apparently, there are some recipes out there for vegan alfredo sauce made from cashews that looked interesting.
Speaking of alfredo sauce, some recipes include using half & half or heavy cream, which I do use on occasion when I have some leftover cream, but I decided not to include these ingredients in this recipe since the original Italian alfredo sauce actually didn’t include it and I thought that this lighter Alfredo sauce fit the theme of fasting better than the one with heavy cream. This ingredient appears to be an American addition, making the sauce extra creamy and thick at the cost of dampening the parmesan flavor. But, the extra fat in the cream does help with setting the sauce, so if you were having trouble with making the sauce, it might help to add some to save your sauce from complete disaster.
Speaking of disaster, usually I try to present the recipe as simple as possible, redoing certain portions of the video if I didn’t get a good shot of something, but sometimes, when I make bigger mistakes, such as in this recipe, if I don’t have time to go back and redo the entire recipe, I try to use it as a teaching opportunity to show that it’s ok to make mistakes when cooking! One thing that I’m trying to give up this Lent is being such a perfectionist and trying to trust in God’s plan more rather than my own abilities. What this has to do with making pasta, I’m not really sure, but I thought that this mistake I made was a serendipitous way of highlighting the whole reason we’re doing the theme for this month!
But, regardless of if you make mistakes or not, this recipe will be a great way to make a cheap and delicious meal using basic ingredients and allow you to enjoy the taste of Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo in or out of Lent!
Ingredients:
- 8 oz or so shrimp
- 8 oz or so fettuccine
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves or so garlic
- 1/2 lemon’s worth of juice
- 3/4 cup or so parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
- Some salt and pepper
Step 1: Prepare Boiling Water & Prepare Ingredients
First, we’ll prepare the boiled water and the shrimp, so in a large pot, add in enough water to cover your pasta and then set this on the stove to boil, along with some salt.
Then while we wait for that, in a large bowl, add in your shrimp and run it over with some water if you need to defrost it.
While we wait for this, we’ll prepare the rest of the ingredients, so for the parmesan, grate this and then set this aside, and for the garlic, mince this up as well, and for the parsley, give this a mince also.
Step 2: Cook Pasta & Shrimp
Then, once your shrimp are defrosted, dry them with a paper towel. And then in a large pan, add in 1 tablespoon of butter and melt it over medium heat.
Your water should be boiling by now, so add in your fettuccine and cook these for 8-10 minutes, or until al-dente.
While this is happening, add in your shrimp along with the garlic to the pan and cook these for a few minutes on each side until they turn pink, stirring the pasta occasionally to evenly cook all the noodles.
Then, deglaze the pan with the lemon juice and scrap the brown bits on the bottom of the pan while the shrimp finishes cooking, adding some salt to taste, if desired.
Step 3: Prepare Alfredo Sauce
Once your pasta is ready, drain it from the water, reserving 2 cups or so of the pasta water.
Then, remove the shrimp from the pan, setting it aside, and add one cup of the pasta water to the pan, bringing it to a gentle simmer, then add in the rest of the butter one tablespoon at a time until it fully melts.
Then, add in the grated parmesan cheese, saving some for garnish later, slowly incorporating it to melt it completely to keep it from clumping up.
If your sauce isn’t thickening, you probably added too much pasta water, so try adding in some more cheese.
Step 4: Add Pasta & Shrimp to Sauce, Garnish, & Enjoy!
But in either case, once your cheese is completely incorporated and your alfredo sauce is ready, add in the cooked pasta (as well as the cooked shrimp if you didn’t forget to remove it) and toss it to coat, adding more pasta water as needed, until the sauce coats the noodles completely.
Then, when you’re ready to serve your pasta, garnish with freshly ground black pepper, parmesan cheese, and minced parsley, and with that, your Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo is ready to eat.