Lighten Up! {Recipes: Lightened Up Alfredo Sauce and Pizza Crust}

 

As much as I love traditional Alfredo sauce, it can be very heavy and rich. This lightened up version of Alfredo sauce is a recipe I have been making for years, but only recently started using it on homemade pizzas. Inspired by the white pizza from one of our local pizzerias, I came up with my own version. This is one of the best pizzas I have ever made!

Lightened Up Alfredo Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup milk

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add garlic and sauté until garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds, overcooking can lead to a bitter garlic taste). Whisk in flour and continue to cook another minute. Slowly whisk in broth and milk; simmer, stir occasionally, until sauce has thickened. Add Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and continue to simmer until cheese is melted; check seasoning and adjust accordingly. 

Serves 4

Serving suggestions:

1. Lightened Up Fettuccine Alfredo. Add 12 ounces of pasta, cooked according to package directions, to sauce; serve immediately. Cooked chicken, cut into strips, can be added as well for Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. 

2. White sauce for pizza.

Use in place of a tomato sauce on pizza. For pizza pictured, the sourdough pizza crust was used from https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-pizza-crust-recipe with 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic added, then topped with vegetarian Italian sausage on 1/3 for my vegetarian daughter, regular Italian sausage on the rest (both were precooked and crumbled), 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped red onion, mushroom slices, grape tomato halves, and a sprinkling of finely grated Parmesan cheese, freshly ground pepper and Italian seasoning. The following recipe for pizza crust from this site would work as well. 

Pizza Crust

Ingredients

1 cup warm water
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups flour. divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, optional

1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic, optional

Instructions:

1. Mix warm water and yeast and let sit 5 minutes until yeast proofs. 
2. Add 1-1/4 cups flour with proofed yeast and mix well in mixer with dough attachment or hook.
3 Add remaining 1-1/4 cups flour and salt (also the Italian seasoning and dried minced garlic, if using) knead until smooth. Form dough into a ball and place in a large mixing greased with olive oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for about 90 minutes or until puffed up. 
4. Using a pizza peel or a large pan with no rim (I use a cookie sheet that has no rim on one side and it works well), place parchment paper cut into approximately a 16" round onto the peel; brush with one tablespoon of olive oil.  Alternatively, a rectangular baking sheet can be used. To prepare the baking sheet, coat bottom with one tablespoon of olive oil.

5. Place dough in the center of the prepared pizza peel or baking sheet. Press dough out with your fingertips toward the edge of the parchment  or baking sheet to form a nice round or rectangular pizza crust. If dough shrinks back too much while trying to shape, cover and let rest for 15 minute and try again. Brush the top of the dough with the other tablespoon of olive oil. Cover with tea towel and let rest while oven heats up. 

6. Preheat oven to 450°F. for 15-30 minutes with pizza stone or steel in the oven, if using. 
7. Top pizza with sauce and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and add the rest of the toppings using. Bake another 10-15 minutes, or until toppings are nicely browned. Keep a careful eye on the crust, the oven is very hot, so the dough can burn quickly. 

Enjoy!