Summer Veggie Alfredo

I love spaghetti and pasta, anything Italian, and every once in a while I do enjoy making pasta with a creamy vodka or Alfredo sauce to change it up a bit.  The only downfall, and my mom will agree- haha!- is that I use sauce out of a jar!  It doesn't really bother me and I don't think my family knows the difference but as I was thinking that I wanted to make an Alfredo pasta for dinner this week, I thought to myself, "Really...How hard could it be to make a homemade Alfredo sauce?"  

I have made dishes using whipping cream before to create a slightly creamy sauce so I figured I'd go that route.  I looked at the ingredients on the jar and (obviously not including any of the crazy names of ingredients they include in jarred sauce) I decided to use heavy whipping cream, butter, garlic, and Parmesan cheese and see what happened!  I did go ahead and search an Alfredo recipe just to get an idea of measurements, even though I ended up changing the measurements from the recipe later.  

I was craving veggies and in my never-ending attempt to get my family to eat more veggies, I decided to go with a colorful mixture using most of the veggies that I had in my fridge.  I had a vision of a rainbow of tender, slightly crisp veggies sauteed in oil tossed in my creamy Alfredo sauce and served over pasta... and that's what I created!  You're probably thinking... Alfredo sauce in a "summer" dish?  But it's so heavy!  That's why I loooved this dish!  The sauce ended up being surprisingly light and was a great accompaniment to the veggies... 

Summer Veggie Alfredo

Broccoli

Petite Carrots

Red pepper

Cherry tomatoes

Onion

Yellow summer squash

Zucchini

Avacado Oil (or olive oil)

Salt

Pepper

Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (or minced garlic or garlic salt)

Penne pasta (or other type of pasta)

Alfredo Sauce

16 oz heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

pepper

Optional dish toppers:

Hot Italian sausage

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Fresh cut basil 

-Begin by setting the water for the pasta to boil.

-Chop all veggies into bite sized pieces.

-Drizzle pan with avocado or olive oil and let heat up.

-Add veggies to hot oil and season with salt and pepper.



-Toss veggies in oil and saute.  Cover the pan and let simmer, but uncover to toss and check once in a while until veggies are at desired tenderness/crispness.  
-Season to your liking with Garlic Garlic or whatever garlic seasoning you are using.  
-Continue cooking veggies or set aside if you are satisfied with them.



-Pasta should be cooking in the meantime...

The SAUCE

-Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.



-Add 1 cup of the whipping cream and simmer, whisking often for about 5 minutes and until butter and cream are completely mixed together.



-Add cheese and continue whisking until cheese is melted into mixture.



-Add black pepper and the other cup of cream, continuing to whisk until you have a smooth sauce that is heated through.

Add veggies to pan with sauce 

and fold veggies into sauce.

When veggies are coated in sauce, 

pour mixture over pasta.

Mix to coat pasta in sauce and spread veggies throughout.

Top with hot Italian sausage...

Fresh mozzarella cheese...

OR BOTH!

My choice:  fresh cut basil from my herb pots and black pepper!- soooo summery!

The aftermath!

MyfirstHOMEMADEAlfredo!<3LML