Recipe: Alfredo pasta

 
I happened to have a Safeway Monopoly coupon to get a free container of half-and-half. Since I'm not a coffee drinker, I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but I won't turn down free food! So I looked up some recipes, and I saw this one on AllRecipes.com for alfredo sauce:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 cups half and half

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. 
2. Whisk the flour and garlic salt into the melted butter until the mixture is smooth. 
3. Slowly beat the half and half into the sauce until completely incorporated. 
4. Stir the garlic, parsley, and Parmesan cheese into the sauce, whisking continually. 
5. Bring the sauce to a simmer; cook, stirring regularly, until the sauce has thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Use immediately or refrigerate.

I was amused that the directions were listed as one instruction on the website (I've broken it down for you here for convenience and clarity). As usual I didn't include all of the ingredients (I didn't have garlic cloves or dried parsley). I will admit that I did not mix things quite as thoroughly or as slowly as I probably should have, nor did I constantly stir the sauce. So I ended up with a saucepan full of what looked like mashed potatoes.

But once the "sauce" was added to hot pasta, ground turkey, and steamed spinach that I had made, it melted quite nicely. I then sprinkled some bacon on top (I had cooked it, let it cool, and then snipped it into tiny pieces with scissors). YUM!