This is the ultimate scratch hands-on cooking recipe; handmade pasta AND sauce?  Can’t get much better than that!  Making fresh pasta is a unique experience for kids (and adults!); pasta usually comes out of a box, so for them to be able to experience it in a different form is a real eye opener.  In fact, it transformed the Barn into a pasta factory — truly amazing!  Once you make this fresh fettuccini, do you really want to top it with traditional Alfredo sauce laden with butter and heavy cream?  Our Cauli-FREDO sauce features cauliflower, blended with a little low-fat milk to achieve that same creamy texture.  Gold stars go out to your whole kitchen crew after making this yummy dish from start to finish!

Short-Cut:  If you want to by-pass making the fettuccini, buy a whole wheat pasta boxed version and top it with our deliciously nutritious sauce!

Ingredients:

Fettuccini:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon cornmeal, divided

Sauce:
½ large head cauliflower (1 ½ pounds), broken into florets
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup low-fat (1%) milk
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
Parmesan cheese for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare dough:  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flours and sea salt.  Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and add egg, egg whites, water, and olive oil to the well.  Use a fork to gently beat the egg and slowly incorporate the flour into the liquid.  Once the flour is incorporated, shape the dough into a ball and turn out onto a floured work surface.  Knead dough ball 8-10 minutes until all the dough comes together, and ball is smooth.  Wrap ball in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
2. 

   Hanging fresh pasta is exciting!

   Prepare Fettuccini:  Dust work surface with all-purpose flour.  Remove dough from refrigerator and separate it into 4 equal pieces.  Use a floured rolling pin, roll first piece of dough into a sheet, ¼ inch thick, aiming for a long rectangle or oval shape.  Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.  Drape sheets of dough over the back of a chair or hang from a clothing hanger to allow the surface to slightly dry out, about 5 minutes.

3. Clear work surface and sprinkle with some of the corn meal.  Place a sheet of dough on the cornmeal and dust the top with more cornmeal, then layer with another sheet of dough.  Continue layering cornmeal and dough ending with a final sprinkle of cornmeal on the top sheet of dough.  Roll layered sheets of dough, lengthwise, into a short cylinder.  Use a knife to cut through the rolled dough, forming ½ inch strips.  Unroll each strip and separate into 4 individual pieces of fettuccini noodles.  Drape the noodles over the back of a chair or hand from a clothing hanger and allow to air dry 15 minutes.  Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil.
4. Prepare sauce:  Set a steamer basket over a separate pot of boiling water and add cauliflower florets.  Cover and steam for 7-10 minutes until cauliflower is fork tender.  Remove cauliflower from steamer basket and transfer to a blender along with ½ cup of hot steaming liquid.  In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat and add in garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant and golden.  Add cooked garlic and oil to blender with cauliflower.  Add milk, salt and black pepper to blender.  Blend cauliflower mixture until smooth and creamy, adding more milk if necessary.  Transfer cauliflower sauce to sauté pan and keep warm over low heat.  Stir in chopped parsley.
5. Cook pasta:  Add dried pasta to large pot of boiling water.  Cook pasta 3-4 minutes until tender.  Transfer cooked pasta to pan with cauliflower sauce and stir to coat pasta evenly.  Transfer to a large serving dish and garnish with Parmesan cheese if you like.

Makes 6 servings (1 cup per serving).

Nutrition Facts per serving:  220 calories; 5g fat (1g sat fat, 2.5g mono, 1g poly, 0g trans fat); 35mg cholesterol; 36g carbohydrate (4g fiber, 3g sugar); 9g protein; 290mg sodium; 4% Daily Value (DV) vitamin A; 60% DV vitamin C; 6% DV calcium; 30% DV iron.

Interested in growing your own cauliflower or root veggies for the fall?  Check out my recent blog on super delicious and nutritious beets!

– Stacey Antine, MS, RD, author, Appetite for Life, founder, HealthBarn USA, co-host, Family Food Expert Internet Radio Show, and recognized as top 10 dietitians nationally by Today’s Dietitian magazine for her work with HealthBarn USA.