The Fettuccine Alfredo were invented in Rome by Alfredo di Lelio in 1908 in the small restaurant of his mother Angelina. In 1914 Alfredo decided to open his new restaurant in Via della Scrofa, which is still operational today.
Fettuccine Alfredo is the most popular dish in restaurants in the United States, thanks to the publicity of one of the most famous Hollywood couples of the 1920s: Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.
During their stay in Rome for their honeymoon, they often ate at the Alfredo restaurant. On their return to the capital, seven years later, they gave gold cutlery to di Lelio with the dedication “To Alfredo the King of the Noodles”, making the place very popular for the American star system passing through Rome.
It is one of the few cases in which the popularity of this very typical Roman dish is greater overseas than in the city.
This recipe is similar to the traditional recipe I ate in the restaurant.

Fettuccine Alfredo

  • Preparation time: 90 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For the pasta:
  • 4 eggs
  • 14 oz (400 grams) of all-purpose flour
  • For the dressing:
  • 6 oz (180 grams) of butter at room temperature
  • 6 oz (180 grams) of grated Parmesan cheese aged at least 24 months
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Leave the butter at room temperature on a serving dish.
  3. Pour the flour onto the pastry board, make a hole in the center, and pour in the eggs once you have lightly beaten them. Knead until the mixture is very smooth. Cover with cellophane and let it rest at room temperature for an hour.
  4. Roll out the dough with the dough sheeter to a thickness of two millimeters. Flour the mixture well and cut it into diamond shapes of about four millimeters.
  5. Boil the water for the pasta in a saucepan. Salt the pasta cooking water.
  6. Work the butter with a spatula until it becomes creamy. Add half the Parmesan cheese and a few tablespoons of the cooking water. Mix it well.
  7. Cook the fettuccine for about three minutes. When cooked, drain the pasta and keep a part of the cooking water.
  8. Transfer the fettuccine to the serving dish and add the rest of the Parmesan cheese and a couple of tablespoons of cooking water.
  9. Make an octagonal movement with a spoon and fork to gently mix the fettuccine until you get a creamy sauce.
  10. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The real Fettuccine Alfredo must be very thin: one millimeter. I prefer them thicker so I stretch them to two millimeters.
  • Use butter and Parmesan of an excellent quality. Here the ingredients are so few that just one being poor quality is enough to compromise the result of the dish.
  • The octagonal movement in the serving dish is important because it serves to melt the cheese well. In the restaurant, this part of the recipe is done by the maître d’ in the dining room… that’s why the dish costs a lot!