The Biggest Alfredo Sauce Misconception, According To The Pasta Queen

Everybody knows what goes into Alfredo sauce. It's the white stuff in jars you see in the sauce aisle of the supermarket. It's what goes into that rich, moreish pasta dish you get from your local Italian place. It's what Michael Scott, making a characteristically poor decision, ate immediately before running a 5K to benefit victims of rabies. It's made of butter, parmesan, and plenty of smooth, heavy, stick-to-the-ribs cream. Right?

Not if the Pasta Queen has anything to say about it. Also known as Nadia Caterina Munno, the Pasta Queen has accumulated millions of followers with her knowledge of Italian cooking and her sheer joie de vivre. Now that she has her own show (also called "The Pasta Queen", on Prime Video), she hasn't lost a single step — certainly not when it comes to setting the record straight about Italian classics like the legendary Alfredo. Despite what you may get stateside, Nadia specifies that true fettuccine alfredo contains no cream at all.

In the Episode 10 of "The Pasta Queen", Nadia takes on the classic dish with her typical gusto. She visits Il Vero Alfredo ("the true Alfredo"), the restaurant in Rome founded by the inventor of fettuccine Alfredo, and discusses the origin of the dish with Alfredo's granddaughters, Ines and Chiara. Developed by Alfredo Di Lelio for his wife to eat while she recovered from childbirth, fettuccine Alfredo was brought stateside by Hollywood it couple Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, who gifted Di Lelio a golden fork and spoon after eating the dish on their honeymoon.

When making the dish herself, Nadia makes it the original way: with very rich butter (European butter typically has more butterfat than American butter) and young Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (from 12 to 24 months old). The result is a dish so creamy and decadent that you'll be amazed that no actual cream was used.