Damn Delicious

Creamy Vegetarian Alfredo

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The boyfriend and I had the time of our lives at his cousin’s along with his wonderful extended family while we stuffed ourselves with more food than we could handle. Now the boyfriend’s cousin hosts a very unique type of Thanksgiving each year, merging Korean food with traditional Thanksgiving food. That means we had the option of Korean bbq, kimchi, sushi, spaghetti, sticky rice stuffing, and of course, the traditional turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, and a million other things that I gorged myself with. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have the posts for the dessert recipes I made. It was such a hectic couple of days and I botched 2 pumpkin cheesecakes so I was a bit distracted/frustrated/stressed. But fear not, I will post these recipes around Christmas as I plan on making them again!

Now on to the recipe…

This recipe was originally supposed to be a creamy chicken alfredo but my chicken breast had already spoiled before the expiration date. So I decided to toss them and add more vegetables, which actually turned out to be the best thing ever. Steaming the vegetables in the alfredo sauce gave them so much flavor, you don’t even get a chance to miss the chicken. Plus, it makes the dish that much healthier. Best of all, it’s a quick dinner made in less than 30 minutes.

Creamy Vegetarian Alfredo (adapted from Comfort of Cooking):

Yields 4 servings

• 1/2 pound penne
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cubed
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1/4 cup plus more for serving

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.

While the pasta is cooking, melt cream cheese and butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. (The cream cheese should be cubed but my mind was elsewhere so I forgot to do that. Oops!)

Add the milk, garlic powder, crushed red-pepper flakes, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 3 minutes. (Mmmmm, just look at that buttery, cheesy goodness!)

Add the broccoli, mushrooms and red bell pepper.

Reduce heat; cook, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Stir in Parmesan; season with pepper, to taste.

Add the pasta and gently toss to combine.

Serve immediately garnished with Parmesan.