I maintain a “recipe to try” binder that contains recipes I’ve pulled from magazines or found online. Since I’ve had good luck with many other Cooking Light recipes, I decided to give this low fat light alfredo sauce a try. I served it with herb-seasoned baked chicken and steamed broccoli on cellentani pasta.

The Alfredo sauce is easy to make and comes together quite quickly – more quickly that I had anticipated! I was lucky enough to have someone willing to stir the sauce while I drained the pasta and sliced the chicken.

The resulting alfredo sauce had a nice flavor, but the consistency was not what I expected. After blending in the Parmesan cheese, the sauce had a thick fondue-like consistency. I added two additional tablespoons of milk and two tablespoons of chicken broth to thin it to a sauce-like thickness. After tossing the pasta with the Alfredo sauce, the sauce remained smooth but clung quite thickly to the pasta. I was glad that I hadn’t used fettuccine, as it would have been difficult to separate the noodles.

Since I enjoyed the flavor, I will give this sauce another try. If I can’t get the alfredo sauce to be thinner and less sticky, I’ll move onto another recipe. This one has potential. Stay turned for future updates.

Cooking Light: Light Alfredo Sauce

Yields 4 Servings

1 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups skim milk
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups hot cooked pasta of your choice (8 ounces uncooked pasta)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Cracked black pepper
Optional: Extra milk or chicken broth to thin sauce to desired consistency

1) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2) Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
3) Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
4) Add 1 cup Parmesan , cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. If needed, add extra milk or broth 1 tbsp at a time to achieve desired consistency.
5) Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.