The egg yolk in this thick creamy pasta sauce adds colour and texture, fresh grated Parmesan cheese adds loads of flavour, you add a dash of appetite and a pinch of love. Do your sums, it all adds up to a gorgeous fettuccine equation!
If possible, buy a very good and very hard block of real Parmesan cheese in triangle form; when making sauce, keep it smooth by ensuring that the cream doesn't boil or reduce too much.
I used this recipe as a side dish, but it could take center stage too, with the addition of chicken or shrimp. I wouldn't change a thing, though because I forgot that the directions of recipes don't change when scaling, I mistakenly only used two cups of Parmesan cheese, instead of four cups (I doubled the recipe). Honestly, I couldn't tell anything was wrong and didn't discover my error until after all was said and done. Though in restrospect, the sauce was thinner than one might expect. My discriminate wife rated this one a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. I would certainly agree. It's a fabulous recipe. I bought a more expensive brand of Parmesan cheese and grated it immediately before use, and I highly recommend doing that. Spending a couple more bucks to get good cheese is definitely worth the investment. I've tried and reviewed over 200 recipes at allrecipes, many of them very good, and this one is certainly in the top 10%. - 07 May 2006 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
This recipe is great! Definitely a keeper because it is rich, creamy, and has a good flavor. It also does not separate like some other recipes that I've tried. HOWEVER, I am surprised that no one has really commented that 5 cloves of garlic is a bit too much. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE garlic, but 5 cloves??? We only used 3 cloves and it was still very strong. I can't even imagine what 5 cloves would taste like! Unless you want your sauce to be overpowered by the garlic, cut down to 2 or 3 cloves. We also used regular whipping cream instead of heavy whipping cream and it turned out perfectly. NOTE: For those of you who got a lumpy sauce, don't use the Kraft parmesan that is in the green can! That stuff has been processed and will not melt correctly. You must use the stuff that is in the refrigerated cheese section of your grocery store. You can find them in wedges or preshredded bags, but it must be fresh. - 16 Feb 2005 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
I was a little skeptical of this recipe because of the garlic and raw egg but I saw so many positive comments in the reviews that I decided to select this one over all the ones posted on this site. I made this in addition to the ham meal for Christmas and it was a huge hit. The fettucini alfredo connoisseurs at the table said it was "to die for". I would definitely recommend this. The only thing I did different was to add shrimp. - 27 Dec 2002 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)