– [Michael] You got it? – [Dwight] Mhm. – Okay. Fettuccine Alfredo. Time to carbo-load. Mm. – [Babish] Hey, what’s up, guys? Welcome back to Binging with Babish where this week we’re taking a look at the fettuccine Alfredo from The Office or more accurately, we’re using it as an excuse to make some fettuccine Alfredo because I want some. First up, the absolute bare bones for Alfredo, some jarred sauce and some boxed pasta which ironically is what I assume Alfredo’s from The Office would have made because they’re supposed to be really, really bad. So we’re cooking some fettuccine to a state of doneness, draining off camera. You’re just gonna have to believe me that that’s what I did and smothering with our jarred Alfredo, mixing for an even coat and the first problem you’re gonna notice with this Alfredo despite the thick gloopy sauce, it just doesn’t adhere to the store-bought pasta. It looks all kinda streaky and greasy and not terribly good and that’s because the American or cream-based version of this dish just doesn’t play nice with anybody but fresh pasta. The next thing you’re gonna notice is that this jarred sauce mostly tastes of garlic which is weird. I don’t know who told Ragú that there’s garlic in Alfredo. For a truly great American Alfredo, we turn to America’s Test Kitchen who prescribes that we combine one cup of heavy cream and two tablespoons of butter in a large saute pan cooking over medium high heat until reduced by about half. At which point we’re gonna add a half cup of cold heavy cream to stop the cooking process then we are grating two ounces of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and cooking a standard issue nine ounce package of fresh pasta for about two minutes. At which point we’re gonna retrieve it with some tongs and drop it into the cream, butter mixture which we’re gonna heat over a medium low flame as we add our Parmesan cheese, a good pinch of kosher salt and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Stir that around just to combine and then we’re also gonna add a quarter cup of pasta cooking water which is gonna help give us a cohesive sauce and a little grating of fresh nutmeg. It’s just gonna taste really, really good. Toss that around until you’ve got a creamy sauce, serve up. Maybe a little bit of extra freshly grated nutmeg overtop and inspect. As you can see, the sauce doesn’t look overly greasy or gloopy. It’s light and creamy and is the most delicious way I could imagine carbo-loading before a 5K which you guys know I’m a stickler for accuracy so I’m gonna package this up and tote it out to Prospect Park where Sawyer is gonna assist me the same way Dwight did with the Parmesan cheese. I’m gonna eat as much as I possibly can for strength and endurance and run the loop which is almost a perfect 5K. Sure, I haven’t ran in a year and a half but this will probably be fine, right? As you can see from my body cam, I did indeed run the full 5K without puke breaks or water breaks just like Michael and in the end, I really cannot recommend it. What’s more is I know the Italians will absolutely murder me unless I make an authentic pasta al burro. So to start, we’re gonna make our own fresh pasta. Into a food processor goes 12 ounces of all-purpose flour and one teaspoon of salt. Process briefly together and then we’re adding eight ounces of eggs which I did not measure but the beauty of the food processor method is that you can add flour as you go. So instead of having to trash this batch, I added a little bit at a time and processed it for about a minute so as to build up a complex network of gluten and give the pasta a lovely chew. Once processed, we’re gonna wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest, maybe after a ceremonial punch in the face, for 30 minutes before dividing, rolling and cutting. To do this, we’re basically gonna grab us a hunk of pasta, generously flour it and roll it out ever thinner one notch at a time on our pasta roller until it gets a little bit too long for our delicate sensibilities and we have to cut it in half and continue to roll it out into two sheets of delicate fresh pasta which we are going to once again generously flour before passing it through the cutters which should help prevent the pasta from sticking together when we twist it into a darling little nest and arrange said nest on a heavily floured rim baking sheet. Next up, pasta al burro is traditionally prepared tableside so we have to ladle some boiling water into our intended heat-proof mixing bowl to keep it warm then we are cooking our fresh pasta for anywhere from 60 to 90 seconds until it floats at which point it’s ready to be tossed together with cheese and butter to make pasta al burro or semi-traditional fettuccine Alfredo. Into our heated bowl goes five ounces of unsalted butter and two and a half ounces of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano followed by our fresh cooked pasta then we’re gonna top that pasta with an additional two and a half ounces of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano as well as a quarter cup of our starchy pasta cooking water which is essential to create a creamy emulsified sauce. Next up, we’re tossing this around with a hefty pinch of kosher salt and no freshly ground black pepper. That is not a traditional ingredient in pasta al burro. Bonus points if you can toss it in the air a little bit to aerate the sauce then you can twist her up with your favorite carving fork and serve with a little bit of freshly grated Parm overtop. Now, like most classic Italian pasta dishes, this one’s greatness comes from its simplicity, quality ingredients coming together to make something beautiful but I gotta say my absolute favorite part is not having to run a 5K afterward. (calm music)

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