Alfredo Night

I often have cream lurking in my fridge, especially after the holidays, and this is a tasty way to use it up. If you have a picky family, consider dong an alfredo bar: cook the pasta and the sauce and give them their choice of toppings like grilled chicken, shrimp, peas, steamed broccoli or anything else you might have on hand. Alfredo is versatile that way.

Pasta and Alfredo
Ingredients:
6-9 oz Pasta* cooked to package instructions and drained
1 stick butter
3 oz cream cheese
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 tsp dried parsley or  1 tsp fresh
Salt and Pepper to taste

Start your noodles on a back burner. In a medium size pot, melt one stick of butter. Add the cream cheese. It will dissolve faster into the butter if it's had time to come to room temperature first, but it's not necessary. Once cream cheese is melted, add the heavy cream. Simmer over medium heat until pasta is ready. Remove from heat and add Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir unill parm is melted and pour over your pasta.

Serve with a salad or a side of steamed veggies and some garlic bread.

*Gauge how much pasta you need by how many servings you want to make. I usually plan one once per person. Also, your pasta does not have to be fettuccine. I've done it with linguine and thin spaghetti. Even farfalle or macaroni would work.