Alfredo and Meatballs
Servings: 4 servings/20 meatballs total
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Alfredo Sauce:
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 12 ounces fettuccine pasta, cooked according to package instructions
- Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, egg, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
- Roll the mixture into meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a drizzle of oil. Once hot, add the meatballs and cook evenly on all sides for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Pour in the heavy cream, stirring continuously. Let the mixture simmer gently until it starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese until melted and smooth. Add in salt and pepper to your taste preference.
- Pour half of the Alfredo sauce over the meatballs in the skillet. Gently toss until the sauce fully coats the meatballs and simmer for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens up even more.
- Plate the fettuccine and spoon on the remaining Alfredo sauce to each portion. Top with the meatballs and extra sauce. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Notes
We used fettuccine for this recipe but your favorite pasta variety will work just as well.
For a lighter version, you can use half-and-half or milk instead of heavy cream, though the sauce won't be as rich or as thick.
We highly recommend for the Alfredo sauce to use a Parmesan that is freshly grated. The pre-grated version will leave a texture because it will not fully melt into the cream.
You can use any kind of ground meat, like turkey or chicken. These are great options for a lighter version.
Using a cookie scoop for the meatballs is a great way to get them uniform in size and shape. We can get 20 meatballs with the recipe using a 1 inch scoop.