Additions to Fettuccine Alfredo

Afternoon Snacks with Julia

My (ex) daughter-in-law, Julia (now just considered daughter), came to visit last weekend. We bond over food, among other things and enjoy discussing what we might do next. When she was planning to come, I asked her what foods she would like me to make, and one of them was a Fettuccine Alfredo dish. 

The main reason was that since my husband got me a pasta maker, she figured it would be de rigueur to use it at least once. So once she made that part of the decision, it went on to additions to the dish. She suggested chicken and asparagus, mushrooms and Italian sausage. Lots of stuff to add in, but I will say it was absolutely delicious. Normally I am really not a sausage person. Especially not fresh sausage. I do eat smoked sausage on occasion but almost never fresh, unless I add it to spaghetti sauce. So it was an experiment for me.
 

Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken, Sausage & Asparagus

I opted to grill the chicken, sausage and asparagus, as grilling just makes things taste so much better. To make the Alfredo sauce, I started out by steeping a lot of garlic in butter for a couple of hours over a low warming burner. I added some sage leaves for flavor. Before starting the sauce, I took out the spent sage leaves and added a couple tablespoons of Fino Sherry and cooked it out. Unfortunately, at this juncture, I was also starting to make the pasta, showing Julia the use of the pasta machine. Distracted, as we tend to get when discussing almost anything, I completely forgot about the garlic butter and Sherry on the stove and suddenly I smelled something burning. The pot was blackened, so I had to stop, scrub out the pot, and start over from scratch with garlic and butter (no "steeping" this time round), add the Sherry and go from there. Oh well; it happens to the best of us. It still came out great.
 

Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken, Sausage & Asparagus

I had grilled the chicken (2 very tiny breasts) whole, then sliced it in long strips. I grilled 2 Italian sausage links (probably about 6 to 7 ounces total) whole, then sliced them on the bias. I grilled the asparagus whole, then cut into lengths. Julia sauteed the mushrooms while I was cutting the meats. All in all, with the amount of meats in there, I feel that this should feed about 6. We sort of pigged out a bit between the three of us at the meal and after giving her some to take home, we had only one portion left. It was just delicious, and I loved the sausage in there so much that a few days later I decided to make it again, only this time with only the remaining 3 Italian sausage links (no chicken), mushrooms and some sugar snap peas, just because I had them in the fridge. 

Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Sausage,
Mushrooms & Sugar Snap Peas

The first time we made it, I chose to add the sauteed mushrooms to the Fettuccine Alfredo, pour that into a large bowl and top it with the grilled meats and asparagus, as shown in the photo above. It made a pretty presentation, though you couldn't really see the pasta underneath all the toppings. The second time, I just combined the mushrooms, sausage and sugar snap peas with the pasta and served it that way, seen at left. Either way was great. The type of meats is totally optional. The kind of vegetable is optional. This was just Julia's particular craving, which I was more than happy to create.

I will admit though, that it is a but of a production to make all this and combine it. Lots of "moving parts," so to speak. The garlic and butter to steep ahead of time. The pasta can perfectly easily be cooked store bought pasta of your choosing. The meat or meats can be baked, fried or grilled at your leisure, and the vegetable, whether asparagus, sugar snap peas or other, can be grilled, steamed, microwaved or whatever. The mushrooms can be from a can, if preferred, or left out if mushrooms are not to your taste. But there are still lots of items to be prepared. And then, of course, the Alfredo sauce. Assembly is simple, once all the ingredients are readied. Another option is to grill (or bake or fry) the meats ahead of time and just reheat before adding to the pasta. As for the vegetables, they are much nicer at that "crisp-tender" stage than leftover and reheated to an unappetizing color, so I suggest that those, at least, are cooked just before adding them in.

Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken, Sausage & Asparagus

Serves at least 6
 

Fettuccine Alfredo with Sausage & Snow Peas

8 ounces fettuccine noodles

ALFREDO SAUCE:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
10 fresh sage leaves, whole
2 tablespoons Fino (dry) Sherry or dry white wine
¾ cup milk
¾ cup heavy cream
5 - 6 ounces cream cheese
¾ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
¾ cup grated Pecorino-Romano cheese

MEATS:
4 - 6 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika

6 ounces mild Italian sausages

VEGETABLES:
8-ounces fresh mushrooms (Baby Bella), sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Fino (dry) Sherry
1 bunch asparagus, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder and a drizzle of olive oil
(or substitute 8 ounces sugar snap peas) 

Start the Alfredo Sauce, time permitting, at least ½-hour and up to 3 hours ahead by setting the butter in a medium-large saucepan with the sage leaves and garlic and allowing it to steep in just barely warm butter. If time does not permit, simply saute the garlic with the sage leaves very gently until softened and the harsh, raw flavor is cooked out. Remove the sage leaves before continuing with the sauce. 

If using chicken, dry the meat and sprinkle with a combination of the salt, oregano, onion powder and paprika. Grill (or fry or saute) the chicken until done and set aside. Grill the Italian sausage until done, at least 14 to 16 minutes, until completely cooked through and set aside. When ready to use, slice the chicken into long narrow strips and slice the sausage on the bias.

Grill the asparagus until it just barely starts to bend in the center. Once done, slice them into lengths as desired. If substituting sugar snap peas, slice them in half, diagonally and steam for 7 to 8 minutes.

Saute the mushrooms in the 2 tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle them with salt and saute until browned. Once browned add in the second 2 tablespoons of Sherry and cook until completely evaporated. 

Set a large pot of water to boil. Just as it boils, add in about 2 tablespoons of salt and then add the fettuccine. Cook as per package directions. Once cooked al dente, drain the noodles, reserving about ½ cup of the cooking water. Rinse the noodles briefly, drain and return them to the dry pot.

To finish the Alfredo sauce, add in the Sherry and cook over medium heat until the Sherry is evaporated. Add in the milk and cream and bring to just under boiling. Add in the cream cheese, in chunks, and stir until very soft (it may not completely melt). Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino-Romano cheeses and cook until they melt. Add the mushrooms to the sauce. Pour the sauce over the noodles in the pan and toss with pasta tongs to combine. Pour out into a large bowl and top with the meat(s) and vegetable. Alternately, just add all the meats and vegetable to the pot and stir, then turn it all out into a large bowl to serve. 

If the sauce looks too dry, add in some or all of the pasta cooking water to thin down. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

More Pheasant and Another Recipe

As I said in my last post, our friend Rich brought home 3 pheasants on his second day hunting. We used 1½ birds in a wonderful Pheasant Mushroom Stew, and it was finally time to do something with the remaining 1½ birds. Back on Monday when we worked with the birds, I set this second half of them into a marinating container with some red wine, olive oil, smashed garlic and fresh herbs, and there they stayed until yesterday evening. This was the wine marinade recipe:

Wine Marinade for Pheasant

Enough for 1 to 1½ pheasants

1½ cups dry red wine
½ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons juniper berries
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 large sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh sage (about 20 leaves)

Set the pheasant quarters into a container. Add in the juniper berries, garlic and fresh herbs, then pour in the wine and olive oil. Marinate, turning twice daily for up to 3 days.

Dinner of Pheasant Alfredo, egg noodles and Fall Fruit Compote

My original intent with these wine marinated birds was to make a wine-based sauce, and add in a lot of dried fruit - somehow. Somehow, the recipe was just not coming together in my mind. The concepts I wanted to bring together just weren't coalescing into a usable recipe. And then - and this is where I love having Rich around - he said he really wanted to use a cream based sauce, maybe an Alfredo Sauce for these birds. I said I had really hoped to use a lot of dried fruits in the recipe, and it seemed they would just muddy an Alfredo sauce. Rich said, "Why not use the fruits in a side dish?" To which I had to smack myself on the forehead and say, "Well, DUH!" 

Okay, so now I had a workable plan. First off, being me, I prefer to make my own Alfredo Sauce, so I had to create a recipe, since I never really had. I asked Rich what he would put in an Alfredo sauce? He said cream and cheese. Well, okay. I was a bit concerned that the meat, having soaked in wine for 3 days, would also muddy up the white Alfredo Sauce. Rich said he didn't care if the sauce was pink or purple. I embellished on his Alfredo "recipe" a bit, but in essence, used that concept. I will say, try to use the best quality butter, cream cheese, Parmesan and Romano cheeses that you can afford for this sauce. It makes a world of difference. As for the dried fruits, I decided to make a compote-like side dish that would serve like cranberries do with turkey or chicken. Wine seemed to be a theme in this menu, so I wanted to cook the fruits in a wine reduction sauce. My other true desire was to use fresh quinces as a part of this fruit melange. 

Creamy Pheasant Alfredo and noodles with a splash of color from the Fruit Compote

I think it is truly not necessary to first marinate the pheasant in the wine sauce before making it into this Alfredo recipe. The main reason we went the wine marinade route was just to keep the birds in a suspended state until we could get one batch eaten and get around to the second batch. Rich was averse to freezing the remainder, if we were going to be using them soonish. However you choose to go about this recipe, I will say that the meat did not leach color into the white Alfredo Sauce, so that was wonderful. The meat was tender, albeit still dry, despite not really overcooking. For anyone who has not cleaned, cooked or eaten pheasant, the meat has almost no fat whatsoever. It is almost impossible to have a fat-free meat that is also juicy and tender. We even went the route of a very low 250 degree oven this time, and the meat was still dry. Luckily, I like dry fowl just fine.

The birds tasted very good last evening, in the recipe we thought up. Nothing truly new under the sun, of course. Pheasant Alfredo recipes seem to abound, as I soon noted when I Googled that concept. My Alfredo was terribly rich, but I think that sort of comes with the territory. Still, the addition of herbs and garlic seemed to take the sauce to new levels. It was absolutely delightful. The fruit compote was the perfect accompaniment. The wine was great, the company convivial and all was perfect in my world.

Pheasant Alfredo, straight from the oven

Pheasant Alfredo

Serves 4 to 6

1½ pheasants, in quarters (marinated or not)
1 stick unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, minced finely
10 sage leaves
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (3-ounces)
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (3-ounces)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 large or 2 smaller sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh sage (or about 20 leaves)

At least ½ hour before making the Alfredo Sauce, melt the stick of butter over very low heat and add in the minced garlic and 10-ish sage leaves. Leave the pan on the lowest heat possible, so it does not even come to a simmer. This might require leaving the pan slightly off the burner. The goal is to "steep" the garlic and sage flavors into the butter, cooking the garlic very gently so there is no raw flavor left. (I left my pot over a "warming burner" for over an hour).

When ready to make the sauce, remove the spent sage leaves and add the flour to the butter and garlic in the pan and stir in. Add in the milk and cream and bring to a low boil. Add the cream cheese, in cubes, stirring until it is melted into the cream. Add in the Parmesan and Romano cheeses, stirring until they are melted.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole with cooking spray. Set the fresh herbs over the bottom of the casserole. Lay the pheasant quarters over the herbs, skin side down (whether it has skin left on or not). Pour the Alfredo Sauce over the meat. Cover the casserole tightly with foil and bake for 1½ hours.
This pheasant Alfredo dish was just perfect served with wide egg noodles as an accompaniment. The Fall Fruit Compote (recipe coming in my next blog) was just the right amount of bright flavor to cut through all the cheese and cream in the sauce. 

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.