Recipe: Roasted red pepper Alfredo
After devouring a Lean Cuisine dish last week, I couldn't stop thinking about it and decided I had to duplicate it somehow. Hours of searching online produced nothing so, I decided to wing it and what I came up with actually turned out amazing! I started with Cooking Light's lightened up Alfredo sauce (you can find the full recipe HERE), added roasted red bell pepper puree to it, and tweaked it a bit to suit our tastes. It blew my husband's mind that he was eating vegetables in his Alfredo sauce. He declared it "delicious"! So, it's become a new staple and without all the heavy cream, I feel good about serving it.
Recipe: Roasted red pepper Alfredo
Ingredients:
1/3 C roasted red bell pepper puree (recipe below)
1 T butter
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 T flour
1/4 C chicken stock
1 1/3 C 1% milk (to keep the calories down, but you can use what you have)
2oz cream cheese
1 C Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
Roast the bell pepper whole, over an open flame, turning every 3-4 minutes until charred black and tender. David roasts ours on our charcoal grill but you can do it over a burner or under your broiler if you have a gas oven. If you don't have a gas stove, you can also purchase roasted red peppers in a jar at the grocery store. Once roasted, place pepper in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap so that the steam you trap inside will help loosen the skin. Let it sit 15-20 minutes. Uncover the pepper and once cool, peel off the skin, and open the pepper to remove the ribs & seeds. Puree the pepper in your food processor until smooth. Set aside.
Tip: When red bell peppers are on sale, buy several so you can roast and puree them and freeze to use later!
Cook one pound of Fettuccine according to package directions. Drain and return to pot you cooked it in and put a lid on it to keep it warm.
In a large skillet or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add in garlic and cook 1 minute. Add in flour and stir until combined. It will be clumpy. Let it sit to cook 1 minute. Slowly pour in chicken stock and milk, whisking to remove all clumps. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Whisk in cream cheese until completely melted into the sauce. Continue to whisk until it thickens to the consistency of heavy cream. It will coat a spoon but still drip off.
Turn down the heat to low and add salt & pepper to taste. I added 2 1/2 tsp Kosher salt and 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper.
Add in Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese and whisk to melt completely.
Add in roasted red bell pepper puree and stir to warm through, about 2 minutes then, turn off the heat.
Toss cooked Fettuccini in this pan to coat and serve!
I topped mine with steamed broccoli and grilled chicken but you could use any vegetables and protein you like.
Recipe: Roasted red pepper Alfredo
Ingredients:
1/3 C roasted red bell pepper puree (recipe below)
1 T butter
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 T flour
1/4 C chicken stock
1 1/3 C 1% milk (to keep the calories down, but you can use what you have)
2oz cream cheese
1 C Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
Roast the bell pepper whole, over an open flame, turning every 3-4 minutes until charred black and tender. David roasts ours on our charcoal grill but you can do it over a burner or under your broiler if you have a gas oven. If you don't have a gas stove, you can also purchase roasted red peppers in a jar at the grocery store. Once roasted, place pepper in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap so that the steam you trap inside will help loosen the skin. Let it sit 15-20 minutes. Uncover the pepper and once cool, peel off the skin, and open the pepper to remove the ribs & seeds. Puree the pepper in your food processor until smooth. Set aside.
Tip: When red bell peppers are on sale, buy several so you can roast and puree them and freeze to use later!
Cook one pound of Fettuccine according to package directions. Drain and return to pot you cooked it in and put a lid on it to keep it warm.
In a large skillet or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add in garlic and cook 1 minute. Add in flour and stir until combined. It will be clumpy. Let it sit to cook 1 minute. Slowly pour in chicken stock and milk, whisking to remove all clumps. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Whisk in cream cheese until completely melted into the sauce. Continue to whisk until it thickens to the consistency of heavy cream. It will coat a spoon but still drip off.
Turn down the heat to low and add salt & pepper to taste. I added 2 1/2 tsp Kosher salt and 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper.
Add in Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese and whisk to melt completely.
Add in roasted red bell pepper puree and stir to warm through, about 2 minutes then, turn off the heat.
Toss cooked Fettuccini in this pan to coat and serve!
I topped mine with steamed broccoli and grilled chicken but you could use any vegetables and protein you like.
That sounds really good and I could TOTALLY veganize it!
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