Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. imported Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 c. imported Romano cheese, grated

6 egg yolks from fresh jumbo eggs

salt and black pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. Heat milk and cram in a heavy bottom saucepan until it begins to simmer. Turn off heat. Slowly whip in cheese, then remove from heat.

2. Place egg yolks in a separate bowl and slowly whip in a portion of the hot milk and cream mixture. Slowly add egg yolk mixture back into remaining cream mixture. Place back on very low heat and continually stir until simmering. Take sauce off heat so it thickens. (This will increase temperature of egg yolks, known as tempering.)

3. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Rating: 2.5 of 5

I don't mean to slam OG's alfredo sauce. In all honesty, I LOVE their stuff....in-restaraunt. For some reason, this recipe tasted way off, and way bland. If it comes down to making alfredo at home, which it does all the time because I can't stand canned/jarred alfredo, then I'm going to have to stick by the usual: Michelle's Alfredo Sauce

Source: Olive Garden, Alfredo Sauce

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients:

1 lb. Italian sausage

1 large onion, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. white wine to deglaze the pan *

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

2 Russett potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

2 c. fresh kale, chopped **

3 c. chicken broth

2.5 c. water

1 c. heavy cream

salt and pepper

* I cut this out.

** I didn't have any kale on hand so I just did without.

Recipe:

1.  Place a large stockpot or Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned. Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside.

2. Add the chopped onion to the pan and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant.

3. Add the wine to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.

4. Add the potatoes, kale, chicken broth, and water to the pot. Return the sausage to the pot.

5. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer on medium-low. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender and cooked through.

6. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Rating: 3 of 5

When we go to Olive Garden, this is the soup I always get. I love it because of it's strong flavors! So, while this was a good copy-cat, I really don't think it comes close. Not nearly strong enough. But, if you like flavor/heat on the weaker side, then this is your dish!

Source: Annie's Eats, Zuppa Toscana