Simple Alfredo sauce, lots of variations

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 0.75 cup heavy cream
• 1.5 cups grated cheese
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan, then add flour.  Cook until bubbly, whisking continuously.  Don’t let the butter brown!
2. Add milk in small pours, whisking thoroughly between each pour.  It’s okay to have it look like a thick paste at the start.
3. Add freshly cracked black pepper and stir in.
4. Whisk in cream and allow to warm to a gentle simmer.
5. Whisk in cheese in handfuls, allowing it to melt into the sauce before adding more.  Continue to cook to desired consistency over low heat, stirring continuously.
6. Salt to taste - the cheeses have salt, so this is hard to measure up front.

Variations

• One 12-oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
• Goat cheese
• Cheddar cheese (for mac and cheese)
• Roasted garlic
• Freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Caramelized onions
• Sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• Fresh chervil or tarragon or thyme

Notes

• This is essentially a Béchamel sauce with cream and a bunch of cheese melted in.
• The quality and blend of the cheese(s) are critical to the sauce. I buy nicely aged blocks of Romano and Parmesan, then grate them myself. I usually use about a half/half blend of these two. The anti-clumping agents used in pre-shredded cheeses can do weird things to the texture of this sauce.