My husband is not a big fan of pasta with cream sauces, but as for me, it’s the bomb! My favorite way to serve pasta, in fact. Every time we eat out for Italian, I order a Fett Alf, since I rarely make it at home. And The Olive Garden does a particularly good one, in my opinion. This recipe gives you several options because you can add some grilled chicken or shrimp and it becomes ever more delicious!
The Olive Garden restaurants often refer to themselves as “The OG”, which of course makes sense. But I often wonder if they really mean “The Original Gangsters” because this restaurant chain is the top dog of Italian-American restaurant chains. The first Olive Garden was opened on December 13, 1982, in Orlando. By 1989, there were 145 Olive Garden restaurants, making it the fastest-growing units in the General Mills restaurant division. Now owned and operated by Darden Restaurants (named for Olive Garden’s founder, Bill Darden) it has over 900 locations in 15 countries and districts and boasts over $3 Billion a year in sales. That’s a lot of breadsticks!
The marketing campaign that The Olive Garden uses, with unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks, also adds to the restaurant chains popularity. And why shouldn’t it? It’s a heck of a deal when a family on a budget can treat the brood out to a fun night at a restaurant, fill up on soup, salad, and killer breadsticks and then bring the entrees home for dinner the next night. I would be lying if I said that my family has never done it and really, what family isn’t under a budget?
For a fun Olive Garden restaurant experience at home, serve the Fettucine Alfredo with the The Olive Garden’s House Salad with House Dressing and The Olive Garden’s Pasta Fagioli Soup or Minestrone and Enjoy!
Cheat…the New York Style breadsticks in the grocery freezer section are a pretty good substitution for The OG’s.
Ingredients
- 6 TBL unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
- 1 LB Fettuccine noodles (Barilla preferred)
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Boil the fettuccine in salted water to al dente instructions, according to the box. Drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.
In a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Do not allow the butter to brown. On a medium-high heat add the garlic and stir until the garlic becomes very fragrant. Add the milk and heavy cream. Stir and bring to a light simmer making sure not to scorch the bottom or burn the cream mixture. Once the cream mixture is simmering, add the Parmesan and Pecorino and whisk constantly until the cheese is completely melted and the mixture is creamy. Add the lemon juice, ground nutmeg, salt and cracked black pepper.
Reduce the heat to low and allow the cheese mixture to reduce, stirring frequently. Once the cream mixture sticks to the back of a spoon, it is ready to add the pasta.
Add the cooked fettuccine noodles and Italian parsley. Incorporate the pasta and cheese sauce very well. Serve immediately.
Serve with The Olive Garden's House Salad and Zuppa Toscana Tuscan Soup and Enjoy!
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