I remember my Great Aunt Rose telling me a story before she passed about a trip to Rome she took with my Great Uncle. Fettuccine Alfredo was named by an Italian restaurateur, Alfredo Di Lelio, at his restaurant Alfredo on the Via della Scrofa in Rome in 1914. My Great Aunt and Uncle were lucky enough to dine there and have Mr. Alfredo Di Lelio serve them his dish personally table side! She said he served all of the Alfredo in the restaurant with large gold engraved fork and spoon that were given to him by Mary Pickford! How cool is that???
Ok, so why the story? Well, I used to love fettuccine alfredo when I was a kid, but authentic kind that was just butter and parmesan cheese. So when I became a vegan I was always thinking of healthy ways of making this dish. Cauliflower was the obvious choice in vegetable for me to experiment with and I think I’ve developed a recipe that you’ll enjoy! It’s super duper creamy and dare I say actually pretty good for you! I’m serious, you will be blown away by how creamy it is! In my picture I’ve served this sauce with Bisogno’s vegan, gluten free, spinach pasta that I found at the farmers market today, but you can use this sauce in so many ways! I loooove it on a baked potato with some broccoli! It’s great in lasagna, potatoes au gratin, etc. Hope you enjoy!
Cauliflower Fettuccine Alfredo
Serves 4
1 large head of cauliflower
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp. vegan butter (I use Earth Balance, or just more olive oil)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
Cut off any bottom leaves of the cauliflower and cut out the toughest part of the core. Then break the cauliflower down into florets. Boil them with the vegetable broth uncovered until the cauliflower is very soft and tender. About 15 minutes.
While the cauliflower is cooking, heat a large frying pan and saute the onion and garlic with the Earth Balance and olive oil until soft.
When both are done, using a slotted spoon, remove all the cauliflower from the broth and place in a blender or food processor. Add 1 cup of the cooking broth, all the contents of the frying pan, the nutmeg and salt. Puree on high until very smooth, 3-4 minutes. Add a little more broth at a time if it needs to be thinned. Add pepper to taste.
Serve with fettuccine and serve warm.
OPTIONS: Drizzle the finished fettuccine alfredo with some truffle oil for something really special! Add red chili flakes to kick up the heat on your pasta! Or saute asparagus, mushrooms, squash, tomatoes, broccoli, or any other veggies you like and add on top!
HISTORY OF ALFREDO DI LELIO CREATOR IN 1908 OF “FETTUCCINE ALL’ALFREDO”, NOW SERVED BY THE GRANDCHILDREN, ALFREDO E ISA DI LELIO, AT THE RESTAURANT “IL VERO ALFREDO” IN ROME, PIAZZA AUGUSTO IMPERATORE 30
With reference of your article we have the pleasure to tell you the history of our grandfather Alfredo Di Lelio, who is the creator of “fettuccine all’Alfredo” in 1908 in restaurant run by his mother Angelina in Rome, Piazza Rosa (Piazza disappeared in 1910 following the construction of the Galleria Colonna / Sordi).
Alfredo di Lelio opened the restaurant “Alfredo” in 1914 in Rome, after leaving the restaurant of his mother Angelina. In this local spread the fame, first to Rome and then in the world, of “fettuccine all’Alfredo”.
In 1943, during the war, Di Lelio sold the restaurant to others outside his family.
In 1950 Alfredo Di Lelio decided to reopen with his son Armando his restaurant in Piazza Augusto Imperatore n.30 “Il Vero Alfredo” (“Alfredo di Roma”), which is now managed by his nephews Alfredo and Ines, with the famous “gold cutlery”” (fork and spoon gold) donated in 1927 by two well-known American actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (in gratitude for the hospitality).
See also the site of “Il Vero Alfredo” http://www.alfredo-roma.it.
We must clarify that other restaurants “Alfredo” in Rome do not belong to the family tradition of “Il Vero Alfredo” in Rome.
We inform that the restaurant “Il Vero Alfredo” is in the registry of “Historic Shops of Excellence” of the City of Rome Capitale.
Best regards Alfredo e Ines Di Lelio
love it! RT @LeslieDurso Here’s my recipe for Super Duper Creamy #Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo: http://t.co/hVNVlW3Cmq …
What’s for your #MeatlessMonday dinner? Try my #Vegan Cauliflower Fettuccine Alfredo – http://t.co/QLvoZxgfsy
Wow! Leslie, we had your Fettuccine Alfredo with cauliflower last night and it was creamy – dreamy, unbelievably wonderful! Served leftovers today and my mother-in-law didn’t believe it was dairy-free. It was amazing. Thanks for a fantastic vegan recipe to keep me happy. And the best part was I didn’t have a fatty-food hangover, or messy clean up! Love ya!
I love the description but it won’t allow me to print it. I can’t even copy and print it for some reason.
Same problem here.
if you have windows type in snipit and get the screen shot
Sounds delicious. I’ll definitely try it! It was also wonderful to learn Aunt Rose’s experience and the history of Fettuchini Alfredo from his own family!
This looks delicious! Cannot wait to try it 🙂
I also would like to be able to print this, or at least copy and paste into my word processor to add to my recipe binder.
Thomas, I added a “printer friendly” link to the bottom of the post 🙂 I hope you enjoy!
Oh my! I have to try this and it is on my list of recipes to try on my notepad!
Thanks Leslie!
How about a Pin button, so we can upload it to Pinterest?
Angie, if you put your cursor over the picture a “pin it” button should pop up 🙂
This is going to be my favorite go-to recipe, thank you so very much.
I love history, even more when it’s food related. By the way, Mary Pickford was a Canadian.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Fettucini Alfredo is one my favorites and I’ve seen many different vegan recipes for it, but never thought to use cauliflower! Such a great way to use my local veggies 🙂 thanks!
My sister and i can’t wait to try this recipe. Unfortunately we live in Istanbul, Turkey and they don’t sell vegan butter here…do you think soy cream could be a suitable substitution?
Belkis, just use olive oil instead 🙂
My girlfriend and I just made this and we LOVE it! We honestly didn’t expect it to rival Alfredo, but we thought it would be delicious anyway. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that it DOES taste just like Alfredo! Amazing! Thank you for this recipe. It will definitely be a regular for both of us now 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that Char! 🙂
Just wondering what kind of onion you used? A white one or a sweet yellow one? Thank you in advance!
Hi Meghan! I used a yellow onion, but you could definitely use a vidalia onion if that’s what you have on hand.
I ended up using a white onion and my god, this recipe was DIVINE! Thank you SO much for sharing it, it’s my new fav pasta sauce recipe, by far 😀
So glad you think so Meghan!! 🙂
I will definitely try this! Just wanted to say that I too, along with my parents, had the great experience of being served the famous fettucine by Alfredo himself at his restaurant in Rome, in 1956, when I was 16. I have never forgotten him, nor the golden fork and spoon he used to toss the pasta. Given that parmesan was a main ingredient, I wonder if adding some nutritional yeast might give this recipe a boost?
That is so cool Val! I’m sure a memory you will never forget! You could absolutely include some nutritional yeast. I’d say maybe a tbsp. when you are pureeing. Let me know how you like it 🙂
I wondered too, but made it without and it was fantastic.
WOW! I can’t wait to try this out!
I’m talking about this on my show now.
We made it last night …it’s easy and great!!!..best of all —- VEGAN!!!
thank YOU, Leslie !!!!
I’m so bummed I missed the show! I would love that you mentioned it! Thank YOU!
This was amazing! I could have eaten it with a spoon, forget the noodles! Absolutely delicious and very easy to make. I had no trouble with the directions and made the slight substitution of more olive oil for the butter. This is going into my regular rotation of meals. Thank you!
So glad to hear that Lauren! Thank you!
If well blended in less than 3 minutes is that okay ?
Yup Betsy, that’s totally fine! It depends on how awesome your blender is 😉
This was so tasty and so easy. It makes a lot so half of it I added red pepper flakes and garnished with chopped fresh basil. Then the other half I added sauteed mushroom and peas.
Delicious!!
So glad you like it Toni! 🙂 Those sound like great add-ons!
I LOVE this dish. I’m not vegan, but now I have another dinner in the quiver I can serve at dinner parties with my friends (vegans and non-vegans alike). I might also try it over brown rice instead of pasta for my gluten-free friends.
So glad to hear this Crissy! Definitely serve it over brown rice, quinoa, or rice pasta for a gluten free option 🙂
We had this tonight and it was AMAZING! I could not believe how similar it tasted to classic Alfredo sauce. Delicious and my kids didn’t even know they were eating cauliflower! ;D
So glad to hear that Holly!
I am a brand new vegan. I made this recipe for my EXTREMELY PICKY, meat eating family and it was a HUGE HIT! Thank you, thank you, thanks. Pure awesomeness. My only regret is that I didn’t make more because I want some more, lol.
So happy to hear this Jackie! Thanks for sharing!
That recipe looks deliciously creamy! I like the use of cauliflower. 😉