College Cuisine Weekly: Penne Alfredo

By Koby Parry

Everyone loves pasta. When pasta comes to mind, I always think about Alfredo — that creamy and buttery white cheese sauce. Unfortunately, whenever you find it in stores, it’s either expensive, terrible, or both. Restaurants usually do a pretty good job at making Alfredo, but it’s usually upwards of $15 for one plate.

I’ve experimented a lot with Alfredo sauce, and the more complex I try to make it, the worse it gets. Below is the best sauce I’ve been able to make (within a budget), and I’m sure anyone can make it in twenty minutes or less.

Penne Alfredo

• ¼ cup of butter ~$3.98 ($0.25/oz)
• 1 cup of heavy cream ~$2.98 ($0.19/fl oz)
• 3 minced garlic cloves ~$0.72 ($4.78/lb)
• 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (4 oz of cheese is roughly 1 cup shredded) ~$5.14 ($0.64/oz)
• Salt and pepper to taste ~$1.66 ($0.32/oz)
• Finely chopped parsley or thyme to taste (optional) ~$0.88
• 1 lb penne pasta (or any other type of pasta) ~$0.98 ($0.06/oz)

Grand total: $16.34

Recipe total: ~$8.29

*All prices were estimations based on Walmart.com

Note: it’s very important to get a block of parmesan cheese instead of the pre-shredded kind. There is starch on the pre-shredded cheese that keeps it from melting and becoming smooth and creamy like it’s supposed to. You can also do a half cup of Parmesan and a half cup of Gruyère cheese, but Gruyère is more expensive and hard to find.

Instructions

1. Set water on the stove over high heat, adding in the pasta once the water has started to boil. While waiting, add heavy cream and butter to a separate pot or saucepan and stir until melted.
2. Add Parmesan/Gruyère (or both) one handful at a time to the cream mixture. Stir until all the cheese has been melted, slowly adding more until the cheese is gone.
3. Add finely chopped parsley/thyme and minced garlic. Stir to combine. After pasta has been drained, pour Alfredo over the noodles pasta. Stir to coat evenly.
4. Garnish with any left over cheese and parsley/thyme, and serve immediately.

Note: chicken and shrimp go well if you would like to add a source of protein. For the sake of budgeting, I didn’t include it in the total, but if you’d like to add them to your pasta, cook them separately and place them on top of your pasta once it has been plated.

Alfredo sauce does not store well in the fridge because the cheese will cool and solidify, so it is better to eat it at the moment.