- [Michael] You got it?
- [Dwight] Mhm.
- Okay.
Fettuccine Alfredo.
Time to carbo-load.
Mm.
- [Babish] Hey, what's up, guys?
Welcome back to Binging with Babish
where this week we're taking a look
at the fettuccine Alfredo from The Office
or more accurately, we're using it as an excuse
to make some fettuccine Alfredo because I want some.
First up, the absolute bare bones for Alfredo,
some jarred sauce and some boxed pasta
which ironically is what I assume
Alfredo's from The Office would have made
because they're supposed to be really, really bad.
So we're cooking some fettuccine to a state of doneness,
draining off camera.
You're just gonna have to believe me that that's what I did
and smothering with our jarred Alfredo,
mixing for an even coat
and the first problem you're gonna notice with this Alfredo
despite the thick gloopy sauce,
it just doesn't adhere to the store-bought pasta.
It looks all kinda streaky and greasy and not terribly good
and that's because the American
or cream-based version of this dish
just doesn't play nice with anybody but fresh pasta.
The next thing you're gonna notice is that this jarred sauce
mostly tastes of garlic which is weird.
I don't know who told Ragú that there's garlic in Alfredo.
For a truly great American Alfredo,
we turn to America's Test Kitchen
who prescribes that we combine one cup of heavy cream
and two tablespoons of butter in a large saute pan
cooking over medium high heat until reduced by about half.
At which point we're gonna add a half cup
of cold heavy cream to stop the cooking process
then we are grating two ounces of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
and cooking a standard issue
nine ounce package of fresh pasta for about two minutes.
At which point we're gonna retrieve it with some tongs
and drop it into the cream, butter mixture
which we're gonna heat over a medium low flame
as we add our Parmesan cheese, a good pinch of kosher salt
and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.
Stir that around just to combine
and then we're also gonna add a quarter cup
of pasta cooking water
which is gonna help give us a cohesive sauce
and a little grating of fresh nutmeg.
It's just gonna taste really, really good.
Toss that around until you've got a creamy sauce, serve up.
Maybe a little bit of extra freshly grated nutmeg overtop
and inspect.
As you can see,
the sauce doesn't look overly greasy or gloopy.
It's light and creamy and is the most delicious way
I could imagine carbo-loading before a 5K
which you guys know I'm a stickler for accuracy
so I'm gonna package this up
and tote it out to Prospect Park
where Sawyer is gonna assist me
the same way Dwight did with the Parmesan cheese.
I'm gonna eat as much as I possibly can
for strength and endurance
and run the loop which is almost a perfect 5K.
Sure, I haven't ran in a year and a half
but this will probably be fine, right?
As you can see from my body cam,
I did indeed run the full 5K
without puke breaks or water breaks just like Michael
and in the end, I really cannot recommend it.
What's more is I know the Italians will absolutely murder me
unless I make an authentic pasta al burro.
So to start, we're gonna make our own fresh pasta.
Into a food processor goes 12 ounces of all-purpose flour
and one teaspoon of salt.
Process briefly together
and then we're adding eight ounces of eggs
which I did not measure
but the beauty of the food processor method
is that you can add flour as you go.
So instead of having to trash this batch,
I added a little bit at a time
and processed it for about a minute
so as to build up a complex network of gluten
and give the pasta a lovely chew.
Once processed, we're gonna wrap it in plastic wrap
and let it rest,
maybe after a ceremonial punch in the face,
for 30 minutes before dividing, rolling and cutting.
To do this, we're basically gonna grab us a hunk of pasta,
generously flour it
and roll it out ever thinner one notch at a time
on our pasta roller until it gets a little bit too long
for our delicate sensibilities
and we have to cut it in half
and continue to roll it out into two sheets
of delicate fresh pasta
which we are going to once again generously flour
before passing it through the cutters
which should help prevent the pasta from sticking together
when we twist it into a darling little nest
and arrange said nest on a heavily floured rim baking sheet.
Next up, pasta al burro is traditionally prepared tableside
so we have to ladle some boiling water
into our intended heat-proof mixing bowl to keep it warm
then we are cooking our fresh pasta
for anywhere from 60 to 90 seconds until it floats
at which point it's ready to be tossed together
with cheese and butter to make pasta al burro
or semi-traditional fettuccine Alfredo.
Into our heated bowl goes five ounces of unsalted butter
and two and a half ounces
of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
followed by our fresh cooked pasta
then we're gonna top that pasta
with an additional two and a half ounces
of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
as well as a quarter cup of our starchy pasta cooking water
which is essential to create a creamy emulsified sauce.
Next up, we're tossing this around
with a hefty pinch of kosher salt
and no freshly ground black pepper.
That is not a traditional ingredient in pasta al burro.
Bonus points if you can toss it in the air a little bit
to aerate the sauce
then you can twist her up with your favorite carving fork
and serve with a little bit of freshly grated Parm overtop.
Now, like most classic Italian pasta dishes,
this one's greatness comes from its simplicity,
quality ingredients coming together
to make something beautiful
but I gotta say my absolute favorite part
is not having to run a 5K afterward.
(calm music)