Vegetarian Creamy Garlic Alfredo Pasta

 The other night I was craving pasta. I would say pasta is one of my favorite meals. Ya know when people ask you if you could pick only one food to bring with you on a desert island? Oops almost spelled dessert instead of desert…I know what I am doing after this… Anyways, I would pick pasta as my one choice of food. And one particular type I really enjoy is an alfredo sauce that is perfectly blanketed over a delicate pile of linguini. Now, who doesn’t love alfredo?! It’s creamy, it’s rich, it’s silky, it’s…magical.

Of course, my favorite way of enjoying a gorgeous alfredo sauce is with pasta and a type of meat (shrimp, chicken, bacon, etc.). However, it can also go quite well with vegetables. There are some nights of the week when my husband and I will try to eat a vegetarian meal. When this recipe idea came along, I decided to try to be a little “healthier” by only adding vegetables to the pasta instead of an animal protein.

The sauce recipe of this dish was inspired by a friend. She shared her recipe and I have tweaked it to fit my own desires.

Ingredients

• ·         Your choice of dried pasta
• ·         ½ cup of butter  
•                  1 cup table cream
• ·         1 cup 2% milk
• ·         ½ pack of cream cheese
• ·         4 cloves of minced garlic
• ·         3 tsp garlic powder
• ·         1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• ·         2 tsp thyme
• ·         1 tbsp pepper
• ·         1 tsp salt
• ·         ½ tbsp flour
• ·         1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• ·         ¾ cup of frozen green peas
• ·         ½ cup of finely chopped carrots
• ·         Dried powdered parmesan to top

Directions

First, follow the guidelines on the box of the dried pasta. Make enough cooked pasta for 4 large servings.

Second, grab your favorite sauce pan and place it on the stove top at a medium heat. Add in your milk, cream, butter and cream cheese. Here is where the splendour begins. Let the butter and cream cheese melt into the liquid, stirring occasionally. I prefer to stir with a whisk to make sure everything is well mixed.

Once everything is melted, add the minced garlic, garlic powder and other seasonings to the pan. Now I always find freshly minced garlic is best but you can also use the store bought minced garlic that comes in a jar.

Let this simmer for 5-10 minutes, again stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the pan and burns. The reason behind the simmering is to allow the garlicy flavour to be absorbed into the sauce. Think of it like putting a bag of tea into a hot cup of water. The longer it sits, the stronger the flavours are in the liquid. And as some of you may know, I absolutely, positively love garlic! For that reason, my sauce simmered for around the 10 minute mark.

I love all of the qualities garlic possesses. If eaten raw (like in some Asian recipes) it has a sharp, almost spicy accent to it. If slowly roasted, it will present a sweet, buttery flavour to a dish. Both characteristics are so captivating in their own way.

Alright! Enough about garlic, let’s get back to the sauce! Normally, I would love use whipping cream, which causes the sauce to thicken naturally, creating a silky texture. But I wanted to be a little bit healthier, and used milk and table cream instead. My sauce was runnier than a typical alfredo so I added flour to help thicken it. We personally enjoy the runny sauce once in a while. If you have similar feelings by all means follow this recipe. Alternatively if you like thicker sauces, I would highly recommend the use of whipping cream instead.

Once the flour has been evenly mixed into the sauce, you can now add the shredded cheese. This will also be a wonderful thickening agent for the sauce. Cheese is what helps make a sauce silky smooth. My mouth is watering even as I type this and I am feeling very excited to make this again someday soon.

Later, I allowed the sauce to simmer for another 5 minutes so it would have some time to thicken. I then added the chopped carrots and frozen peas to the mixture.

WARNING!!! Microwave and strain your peas before adding them to the sauce. Unfortunately, I was in a rush and did not do this. By adding frozen peas directly to the sauce, the thin layer of ice will melt off the peas and into your once beautiful sauce. The ice turns to water! Which turns your sauce into an extremely runny liquid. It is quite horrifying. Instead of this incredibly rich, thick creation you have something that looks like it would be rejected by professional food critics. I am sure you can picture the tear running down my face as this happened. A tear that ran as fast as the sauce ran off of my spoon. So sad. So tragic…

Alas, when you are hungry you are hungry. And when you are tired you don’t give two sh*ts anymore and you just want to eat, curl up into a ball and relax. And this is what I did.

So wise people, heed my warning. Defrost your peas before adding them in!

Then, once all the veggies are cooked through, go ahead and place (or pour…sniffle sniffle…) your contents over the cooked pasta. Top with parmesan cheese and dig in!

In summary, I would say this recipe is enough for four large servings. Yes my sauce was more of a watery than silky consistency, but it still tasted extremely delicious. I would make it again in a heartbeat…but would ensure to cook the peas separately. The flavours of the sauce are peppery, creamy and fabulously garlicky all at once. Also, these essences are accompanied by hints of thyme, oregano and a subtle tang from the cream cheese. The sauce paired well with the vegetables to make this a vegetarian dish. It would also go well with a succulent chicken breast, small slices of bacon or juicy and tender shrimp. You can add any additions you like. That is what makes alfredo sauce and food so amazing. The opportunities are endless. You do you! And enjoy!