Fettucine Alfredo from Rachel Ray

When you see this pic, you'll notice how few ingredients there are. You've got to love any recipe with so few ingredients, but, I discovered, that comes with a price.

One of my all-time favorite foods is the chicken parmesan with fettucine alfredo from Carabba's in Houston. And I mean the original Carabba's, not the chain that is owned by a relative of the Carabba's family. I have never found a restaurant with the same quality alfredo sauce and I can definitely not recreate this at home, so I rarely eat it.

Anyway, last week, I watched Rachel Ray while I was at the gym, and she made an alfredo sauce that incorporated saffron steeped in water instead of chicken broth. It looked so delicious and easy that I decided to try the recipe.

You will notice that I have no pictures of the final product because it was another total recipe fail. This time, I think the recipe was at fault. I read the reviews online and everyone had the same problem I did. It was edible but disappointing.

I was not willing to go to the effort to find the saffron because they didn't have it at my store. So I am to blame for messing with the master. I substituted chicken broth, which I think was fine, but the saffron must have added flavor that was now missing. I added italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. It was still bland. To save dishes, I threw my sauteed broccoli into the serving dish with the pasta.

I won't even post the recipe because you should not make it. The problem that I, and all the other reviewers had, that did not happen to her Italian highness, was that the shredded parmesan cheese clumped together. I tried the Digiorno kind, which is less expensive, as well as a more expensive kind, and they both clumped as they melted. It was disgusting to pick out the clumps from the pasta as I stirred it. It filled a two cup measuring cup with clumped white cheese and some butter or grease that had separated at the bottom. Ew.

I was doubly disappointed because I was hungry all day, but knew that I was having pasta for dinner, so I held off. I guess it was good for my waistline, but I am starting to crave something good and that's always trouble. (As in refer to my next post.)