Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Traditional Alfredo Sauce

I LOVE pasta, I could eat it almost everyday and never get sick of it, as long as I switch up the sauce. 

I’m sure we learned how to make traditional Alfredo sauce in culinary school, but if we did I definitely did not retain that information. So for years I’ve been making every other type of pasta sauce from scratch, and buying jars of sub-par Alfredo sauce. But then I read the ingredients on that back of one of the jars, and organic or not, they weren’t great. So then we didn’t eat Alfredo for a while, until I decided that I was going to try making it from scratch. 

 

I searched for recipes, and most of them included making a roux and adding cream, which I have nothing against, but I knew that wasn’t how you make traditional Alfredo. Finally I came across an Alfredo tutorial (yes, it’s a thing) and watched an Italian man, who clearly knew what he was doing, make genuine Alfredo sauce. And boy was I shocked to learn how easy it really is! Four simple ingredients, about half an hour of cook time from start to finish and there are lots of ways to mix it up. 

 

This recipe is chicken and broccoli with a garlic Alfredo sauce. When I have time I love to make my own pasta, but you can use any type of noodles you want. Fettuccini is traditional but if I’m not making my own I prefer a Rotini or Campanella noodle because they hold more sauce. Plus I prefer the texture. 

 

The type of noodle I use has become a point of contention in my household. My husband like to have Fettuccini noodles with Alfredo, Spaghetti noodles with Marinara or a meat sauce, and Rotini is allowed in pasta salads. So sometimes I use other noodles just to ensure my husband has something to laugh about. 🙂

 

The quality of ingredients matters here. If you’re going to go through the effort of making homemade Alfredo, you don’t want to use cheap pre grated Parmesan cheese. Spend the extra few bucks and buy a block of quality Parmesan and grate is fresh right before you use it, I promise you won’t regret it.

 

What you’ll need…

• Parmesan cheese
• Butter
• Garlic 
• Fresh parsley
• 1 box of pasta, or if you are making your own use 1 batch of pasta dough
• Chicken breasts
• 1 large head, or 2 smaller heads of broccoli
• salt and pepper

Mise En Place…

• Boil water in a large pot for pasta *you’ll need some of the hot pasta water for your sauce, so if you cook the pasta before making the sauce, don’t toss all of the pasta water
• Boil another pot of water for broccoli 
• Trim your chicken and cut against the grain into strips
• Rough chop your parsley
• Peel and mince garlic
• Grate parmesan, if you don’t get exactly 3 cups it’s ok. I’ve made this recipe with 2 cups of parmesan, and once with 4 cups. It just depends on how cheesy you want your sauce. 

Tips…

I definitely recommend having everything ready before you start this dish, once the butter has hit the pan and starts to melt the sauce goes fast! I like to cook my pasta and broccoli first, or at least cook them halfway before I start the sauce. I also recommend cooking the chicken in the same pan you’re going to make the sauce in, you can use the butter to deglaze the pan and scrape up all those yummy chicken bits to add flavor to the sauce. 

 

This traditional sauce is not as thick as store bought sauce, or a roux based Alfredo. But it tastes better, and is naturally gluten free. Plus it’s fun to make, there’s something about watching your cheese melt under the starchy pasta water that is just so satisfying.  

 

Check out my instagram to see how I make this from start to finish

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0ud9AgRpUc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=NTYzOWQzNmJjMA==

 

Ingredients

• 1 block of parmesan, enough to grate about 3 cups
• 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
• 6 cloves of garlic 
• 2 TSPB fresh parsley
• 1 box of pasta, or if you are making your own use 1 batch of pasta dough
• 2 lbs chicken breasts
• 1 large head, or 2 smaller heads of broccoli
• salt and pepper to taste

Execution

• Boil a large pot of water for pasta *you are going to need the pasta water for the sauce, so if you cook the pasta ahead of time don’t toss all the hot pasta water.
• Start by trimming your chicken and cutting against the grain into strips. You could also cook your chicken breasts whole and cut them after cooking them. 
• Cut the broccoli into florets and boil in a pot of water
• Rough chop your parsley
• Peel and mince garlic
• Grate 3 cups of parmesan *if you don’t end up with quite 3 cups that’s ok, your sauce will still turn out delicious!

When you are ready to make the sauce…

• Cook your chicken in the same pan as your sauce. Once your chicken is fully cooked remove from the pan, then use the butter to deglaze the pan and scrape up all the crispy chicken bits with a spatula, this adds a nice depth of flavor to your sauce. 
• Once the butter is fully melted add your garlic and cook until aromatic. Be sure not to let your garlic get crispy, while that won’t wreck your dish, it will change the texture. 
• Add the grated parmesan into our pan and which constantly until mixed in with the butter, this is where you start to add the hot pasta water one slow ladle full at a time. 
• Continuing to whisk until your cheese is melted, add your parsley now so it can cook a bit. The sauce should be getting creamy and slightly thick at this point. The starch from the pasta water acts as a natural thickener, but the cheese is really what makes it thick, so it’s important to melt it fully. 
• Once your sauce is creamy add in the pasta, chicken and broccoli stirring until everything has a nice coating of sauce on it. About 2-3 minutes, just enough time to reheat the chicken, but not long enough to overcook the noodles. 
• Serve hot, possibly topped with extra parmesan cheese!