Pasta de Savoy…this is a tale of a simple alfredo sauce gone awry…but in the best possible way! Here is what happened, I was making a simple Alfredo sauce and found myself adding (one of my fav seasoning combinations) Herbs de Provence, then substituted Swiss cheese for mozzerella cheese, but still added a bit of Parmesan for the kick. And Voila(!), a beautiful amalgamation of flavors that was fantastic (IMHO). It was simply delicious and my family just loved it!
Because I was so thrilled with how it turned out, I wanted to share it with all of you, but now I needed to name it. My Husband was very helpful (as always) with the suggestion Pasta Surprise, but I decided to go a different route. I started thinking about how this dish has French, Italian and Swiss influences, and that all three of these Countries come together along a region of France called Savoy (thanks Google for being so informative) and Eureka…Pasta from Savoy!. Well, technically it should really be Les Paste de Savoy…but I thought that would be too much for people, so I shortened it, I figured if the Herbs can do it, so can I. 😉
Well, I sincerely hope the dish does justice to that beautiful part of the world, if it doesn’t and if any of you Savoyians (people from Savoy) take offense to this dish, please let me know, and I will change to name…to Pasta Surprise. So someday I will be lucky enough to visit this part of the world, but until then, I will just sit back and enjoy this dish and imagine myself there 🙂 (sigh).
Start of Simple olive oil and diced onions. I know, I need a new pan, this one is scorched, don’t judge! It has had a long good life and has seen some successes and quite a few failures too.
Maybe the reason my pan is scorched is because I sometimes let it get too hot…I got the onions a bit crispy, they are good that way, I promise…flavor 😉 Anyway, add about 3Tbsp of all purpose flour. Stir this around to make a paste. But don’t let this get too hot or scorched because it will taste weird. I actually don’t make a Roux here, I just simple combine the onion, oil and flour.
To lighten things up, I use chicken broth and milk, not cream. So once the flour, onion and oil are combined add the chicken broth and milk. Also, at this point add your minced garlic.
Start wisking away to until all the clumps are disolved and the liquid takes on a slightly darker color. I hope you can see the slight difference between the first and second picture. When it starts to darken turn the sauce down to low.
Add a heaping TBSp of of Herbs de Provence. Cook for about 5 min until it gets nice and thick.
Once it is nice and thick, turn off the heat (or at least on low) and add in your grated Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese and briskly whisk until the cheese is melted and combined. Combine with warm Fettuccini noodles or other hearty whole wheat pasta and serve warm with a veggie or salad on the side.
- 1lb Fettucini whole wheat pasta ( or other broad hearty pasta that would hold this thick sauce); cooked according to package instructions - to al dente
- 2Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 cup onions, diced
- 3Tbsp all purpose flour
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1½ cup chicken broth (can use vegetable broth)
- 1½ cup 2% milk (can use soy or almond milk is wanted, but I only tried this with reg cow's milk)
- 1 heaping Tbsp of Herbs de Provence
- ½ cup grated Swiss cheese
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
- In large skillet/pan, combine olive oil and onion and saute, until soft about 5-7minutes. Add a pinch of salt and some fresh ground pepper at this point too
- Add flour and mix until all the onions are coated and the oil is absorbed
- Add milk and broth, briskly whisk until the flour is dissolved and there are no more clumps.Add minced garlic here too Cook on medium until it starts to change color and thicken. Turn down to low.
- Add Swiss and Parm cheese and throughly combine
- Toss with warm pasta and serve.
- Enjoy
Enjoy!
