There are certain recipes that are essential to have in your recipe box and one of them has to be Spaghetti Alfredo. Who doesn’t love Pasta? I love Pasta, whether it is Alfredo or Arrabiata or classic Aglio e Olio (garlic pasta), it is all time favorite.

Spaghetti is plural form of the Italian word Spaghetto that has roots from Spago, meaning “thin string”. Spaghetti is long, thin, solid and cylindrical pasta. It is a staple food of traditional Italian Cuisine. Italian Spaghetti is typically made from durum wheat Semolina.

Alfredo is basically made with 3 ingredients: butter, cream and cheese. Alfredo Spaghetti is creamy, comforting and absolutely delicious and very easy to prepare.

Health Benefits

• Pasta is made from Durum wheat which is high in fiber and rich in vitamins like A, B, E etc.
• Unlike ordinary wheat, the durum wheat has less impact on blood glucose level since digestion of its starch is slower. It is good for diabetic people to consume in less amount.
• If you are having trouble with your cholesterol level or you are allergic to eggs: pasta from durum wheat is flexible enough without adding eggs.
• If you are dieting or simply eating consciously: due to its low glycemic index and high protein content, durum wheat is the perfect choice for you.

Ingredients

• 150 gram Spaghetti pasta
• 2 tablespoon Garlic butter/salted butter
• 2 cloves garlic (if using salted butter)
• 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 Carrot (Julienne)
• 1 Yellow/Green Zucchini (sliced)
• 10-15 Cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
• 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
• 7-10 Broccoli small florets (optional)
• 1 small Yellow Pepper
• 1 small Red Pepper
• 1 small Green Pepper
• A pinch of rosemary leaves (fresh or dried) (optional)
• 1-2 teaspoons mixed Italian herbs
• 1-2 teaspoons dry chili flakes
• 4-5 fresh Basil leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dry basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon olive/vegetable oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions

Vegetables:

1. Put a pan on medium flame and 1 tablespoon of garlic butter and wait for it to melt.
2. Add all vegetables except tomatoes and sauté it till half cooked. Now add tomatoes to it and cook it for another 2 minutes till tomatoes becomes slightly tender.
3. Keep it aside as we need to add this in Alfredo sauce once prepared.

Spaghetti Pasta:

1. Put another pan on medium flame and add 4 cups of water to it along with 1 teaspoon salt to it. Let it come to boiling point.
2. Add Spaghetti pasta to it and wait till it become al-dente. Al-Dente is the state where pasta is not raw and almost cooked and you feel chewiness while eating it.
3. Strain the pasta and save water in a bowl. Run pasta through cold water so that cooking process is stopped.
4. Add few drops of olive/vegetable oil to strained pasta to avoid pasta sticking to each other.

Alfredo Sauce:

1. Put a pan on medium flame and add 1 tablespoon garlic butter/normal salted butter. When butter is melted then add rosemary leaves and garlic (if using normal salted butter) to it. Sauté garlic in butter for 1 minute.
2. Add all purpose flour to it and mix well with butter for 1-2 minutes. Add milk to it while stirring it continuously for 3 minutes so that no lumps are formed.
3. After 3 minutes you can stir occasionally and sauce will start to thicken up. It will take 8- 10 minutes for sauce to thicken up. Once it is ready, you should sieve it so that garlic and rosemary leaves are removed from sauce since all the flavor would have been absorbed by sauce while cooking.
4. Alfredo sauce is ready.

Final Preparation:

1. Put Sauce pan with Alfredo sauce on low flame and add mixed Italian herbs and chili flakes to it and mix well.
2. Now add vegetables to it and mix well. Check for the salt and if required then add it now.
3. Add Spaghetti pasta to it and mix well.
4. Spaghetti Alfredo is ready and garnish it with fresh or dry basil leaves and grated Parmesan cheese.