I absolutely love finding ways to make some of my favorite “cheat” dishes healthier. With this dish I can indulge in an extra piece of garlic bread and not feel completely horrible about myself! This fairly simple, low-fat fettuccine alfredo recipe keeps all of the robust alfredo flavor, but also protects my waistline.

The sauce component of this dish works out to be about 150 calories per serving (this makes 4 servings) + whatever calories are in your favorite pasta! Obviously using a whole wheat pasta would make this even healthier, but as you can tell from my picture, I prefer regular fettuccine noodles.

Ingredients

• 12 ounces fettuccine
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup low-fat milk – I used skim
• 3/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsps. low-fat cream cheese
• 1  tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• (optional: chopped fresh parsley topping)

Directions

1.  Cook pasta  according to package directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
3. Add garlic and lemon zest, cook about 1 minute.
4. Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine.
5. Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.
6. Slowly add chicken broth, whisking to combine until smooth.
7. Whisk in milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer.
8. Let cook for an additional minute until thickened, then stir in Parmesan and cream cheeses until melted.
9. Reduce heat to medium-low until pasta is ready.
10. Drain pasta, then immediately add pasta to the saute pan with alfredo sauce.
11. Serve topped with chopped fresh parsley if desired.