Roman Fettuccine Alfredo (Fettuccine al Burro)
Fresh pasta, butter and Parmigiano. No cream, no garlic, no chicken, and somehow creamier than ours.
This is the original from Rome. Alfredo di Lelio made it for his wife Ines around 1908, and later tossed it at every table in his restaurant until the noodles turned glossy. Most Romans just call it fettuccine al burro.
The trick is the pasta water. Its starch turns butter and cheese into a sauce that's creamier than cream, in about a minute of tossing.
🇮🇹 The original
Fresh pasta, butter and Parmigiano. No cream, no garlic, no chicken, and somehow creamier than ours.
🇺🇸 The American version
The American version swaps the pasta-water trick for heavy cream, adds garlic, and usually piles on chicken. See the American Fettuccine Alfredo recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Pasta water
Boiling pasta sheds starch into the water. That starch, with the cheese proteins, coats tiny drops of butter and holds them in the water: an emulsion, like mayonnaise.
Tossing
Every lift and fold breaks the butter into smaller drops, which is what makes the sauce glossy.
Step by step
- Step 1
Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it lightly. Use less water than usual, so it gets starchy.
- Step 2
Put the softened butter in a wide pan or a warm bowl.
- Step 3
Cook the fresh fettuccine for just 2 to 3 minutes and pull it a little before it's done. With dried pasta, pull it a minute short of the package time.
- Step 4
Move the pasta straight into the butter with tongs, and bring a ladle of the cloudy pasta water with it.
- Step 5
Toss. Keep tossing. Lift and fold the noodles until the butter melts into the water.
- Step 6
Add the cheese a little at a time, with another splash of pasta water, and keep tossing. In about a minute it turns into a smooth, glossy sauce. Serve right away.
Roman Fettuccine Alfredo (Fettuccine al Burro)
Serves 2 · 15 min total
Pasta
- 8 oz fresh egg fettuccine
- 4 tbsp good unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
- 1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated as finely as you can
- Salt, for the water
Method
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it lightly. Use less water than usual, so it gets starchy.
- Put the softened butter in a wide pan or a warm bowl.
- Cook the fresh fettuccine for just 2 to 3 minutes and pull it a little before it's done. With dried pasta, pull it a minute short of the package time.
- Move the pasta straight into the butter with tongs, and bring a ladle of the cloudy pasta water with it.
- Toss. Keep tossing. Lift and fold the noodles until the butter melts into the water.
- Add the cheese a little at a time, with another splash of pasta water, and keep tossing. In about a minute it turns into a smooth, glossy sauce. Serve right away.
Our synthesis of Katie Parla's, Giadzy's and Milk Street's Roman fettuccine Alfredo. Katie Parla, Giadzy and Milk Street. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Three things make it go wrong: a pan that's too hot clumps the cheese, letting it sit makes it stiff, and rinsing the pasta washes the starch away.
- Save a cup of pasta water before you drain. It fixes a thin sauce, a thick sauce and a broken one.
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