Creamy alfredo + earthy, caramelized roasted brussels sprouts + salty
prosciutto = a dinner you’ll make again and again.
inspiration
I keep a note in my phone of recipe ideas. It’s very long; I think it dates back to 2018. I made multiple notes to make some kind of alfredo recipe, and since I’ve been in the mood for a hot bowl of pasta, I decided to tackle it this week.
While fettucine alfredo is always good, I tend to find it a bit boring when it’s plain. Chicken is an obvious choice, so I decided to skip over that as well. Prosciutto is a little more interesting. When cooked on the stovetop, it becomes salty and crispy and delicious. It also adds a little more color (sort of) than chicken. I like to cram as many food groups as possible into a meal, so I’ve added some brussels sprouts here. Roasted brussels sprouts are wildly easy to make and also pair with a lot of different flavors. Plus, they’re in season right now, so they’re a cheap and hearty option.
why i love this recipe
Cream doesn’t do great things for my stomach, so if I’m going to make a cream-based sauce it has to be worth it. This one absolutely is. The alfredo is rich, creamy, and made with real Parmiggiano Reggiano, which has a more robust and complex flavor than the regular parmesan in the normal cheese section. Prosciutto packs a salty umami punch here, and brussels sprouts are green and earthy and grounding.
Alfredo with brussels sprouts and prosciutto is hearty fall food. It feels like something you’d get at a restaurant on one of those too-hot wide-bottomed bowls that burns your hand if you touch it. There are a lot of different textures here as well: chewy pasta ribbons, creamy sauce, tender brussels sprouts, crisp prosciutto pieces.
One of the best things about pasta is that it can be as casual or as fancy as you want. You can eat it on the couch in your pajamas or light candles and set the table. Either way, it’s going to be a great time.
details
I’m not going to pretend this is a one-pan meal. It is, in fact, a three-pan meal. But I wouldn’t make you use three pans if the result wasn’t going to be great. None of the steps are hard, either; they’re all pretty straightforward. The sauce is probably the trickiest thing, but I’ll give you a handy tip or two to make sure you’re successful.
In the interest of time, you’ll want to roast the brussels sprouts and cook the pasta first. I kind of like to see how far I can get while the sprouts are roasting—odds are, you’ll probably be just about done by the time they come out!
The prosciutto just needs a little cook in the pan over medium-high heat. You don’t even need any oil if you use a nonstick pan. If you don’t have nonstick, just add the tiniest bit of olive oil.
Using the same pan for the sauce starts us off with a little bit of that flavor, which is always a good thing. First you’ll melt your butter and scrape up any browned bits from the prosciutto. Then you’ll add the garlic, nutmeg, white pepper, and salt, and cook it until the butter is beginning to brown. Cream goes next, and simmers until it thickens just a bit. (Don’t let it burn!) Parmigiano Reggiano is last, and this is where you’re most likely to go wrong. It’s very easy to ruin sauce by adding cold cheese to hot cream. But there’s an easy way to prevent it: take the cream off the heat before you add the cheese, then add the cheese a handful at a time, whisking until completely incorporated before adding more. It takes a minute, but the results are worth it.
notes
Here are a few notes to help you make alfredo with brussels sprouts and crispy prosciutto:
- I recommend getting all the prep work done first. Cut the sprouts and grate the cheese, mince the garlic. Things will go more smoothly if you’re not frantically trying to prep the next thing you need to use right as you need it.
- Use fresh garlic for this, if you can. If you can’t, just use more.
- You can use regular pepper if you can’t find or don’t want to buy white pepper. They have slightly different flavors and the sauce will be flecked with black but it will work just fine
- Use fresh brussels sprouts. Frozen are more likely to get soggy instead of crisp in the oven
- Use real Parmigiano Reggiano. I said I’d tell you when it’s important, and it’s important here. Even the shaved stuff at the store doesn’t have quite the right flavor or salty punch that real Parmigiano Reggiano has.
- Take the sauce off the heat before you add the cheese and whisk the entire time. If you don’t, the sauce will curdle and turn out grainy and unappealing.
- If your sauce doesn’t turn out quite as smooth as you want, a quick blend will fix that. No shame. No one will be able to tell and it’ll taste exactly the same.
Looking for another pasta recipe? Try one-pot lemon basil pasta, mushroom, spinach & zucchini lasagna, and penne and sundried tomatoes in pesto cream.
alfredo with brussels sprouts and crispy prosciutto
Ingredients
Method
- Roast brussels sprouts and cook fettucine. Preheat oven to 400 F and put a pan of water on to boil Cut off the ends, then slice them in half length wise. Lay them flat side down on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt. If you toss them too much they’ll fall apart, so just kind of move them around with your hands until they’re coated in oil. Roast them for 20 minutes, or until browned on the bottoms and around the edges. Set aside. When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions.
- Cook prosciutto. While the brussels sprouts are roasting and the fettucine is boiling, heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Rip the prosciutto into pieces with your hands and drop them into the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until desired doneness. Set aside.
- Make sauce. In the same nonstick pan you used to cook the prosciutto, melt the butter. Let it come to a bit of a bubble, then add garlic, nutmeg, white pepper, and salt. Let it all cook, stirring here and there, until the garlic is fragrant and the butter is browning. (You’re not watching for the liquid to brown—just the little bits floating around the bottom.) Once the butter is browning, immediately add the cream. Stir well, but don’t worry if the oil doesn’t incorporated well at first. It will. Bring the cream to almost a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 8-10 minutes, whisking pretty frequently, until it has thickened. Take it off the heat and add the parmesan a little at a time, whisking to incorporate it fully before adding more. It can be hard to make the sauce totally smooth, so don’t worry if you can’t. A quick blitz in the blender or with an immersion blender will fix that.
- Toss it all together. Toss the cooked fettucine with ¾of the sauce (reserve the other ¼ for freshening up leftovers), roasted brussels sprouts, and prosciutto.
Notes
- This will keep tightly covered and refrigerated for 3-4 days.
- To reheat, you can use either the microwave in 60-second bursts or you can heat it over medium heat in a saucepan. Either way, reheat it with a splash of milk and some of the extra sauce. That will keep it from drying out!