Skillet Fettuccine Alfredo with Homemade Gluten-Free Pasta

The real Alfredo has no cream in it. It is fresh pasta, butter, hard cheese, water, and salt, and the sauce is an emulsion: the pasta cooks in a skillet in just enough water, so the cooking liquid stays concentrated and starchy, and that starch holds the butter and cheese together in a smooth, glossy coating. This one-pan, no-drain version was developed for store-bought fresh pasta; here it is built on a batch of our own homemade gluten-free fettuccine instead. In the Test Kitchen: adapted, and not yet test-made.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

servings

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1 batch Homemade Gluten-Free Pasta (Xanthan Gum Version) cut into fettuccine, about 280 g fresh pasta (4 nests); recipe linked in the post above the card
2 cups water 475 ml
1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
4 Tbsp butter 57 g, cut into small cubes
3 oz Grana Padano 85 g, finely grated on a rasp grater, about 1 1/2 cups loosely packed, plus more for serving; Parmigiano-Reggiano works too, see Notes

Prep first. Grate the cheese and cube the butter before anything hits the stove. Once the pasta is in the skillet there is no pause to do it.
Start the pasta in the skillet. Put the fresh fettuccine in a large skillet (12-inch). Add the water and the salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil, separating the strands with tongs as the water heats; fresh gluten-free strands stick to each other more than wheat pasta does, and the first minute is when they set that way if you let them.
Cook in its own starch. Boil, stirring often with tongs, until the pasta is just tender and most of the water has cooked down to a small amount of concentrated, starchy liquid in the bottom of the skillet, about 4-6 minutes for homemade fresh pasta. Do not drain anything; that liquid is the sauce base.
Build the emulsion. Take the skillet off the heat. Add the butter cubes and toss until melted and glossy. Add the grated cheese a small handful at a time, tossing steadily after each addition until it melts in before adding the next. Adding it all at once is how the cheese clumps.
Adjust and serve. If the sauce looks loose, keep tossing; it thickens quickly as it stands for a minute. If it tightens up too much, splash in a tablespoon or two of hot water and toss again. Taste for salt (the cheese brings a lot), portion into warmed bowls, and serve right away with more grated cheese over the top.

Feeds 2-4 people, depending on appetite and what else is on the table.
Not yet test-made, what the trial has to prove: (1) whether 2 cups of water is the right amount for homemade gluten-free fettuccine; GF pasta sheds more starch than wheat pasta, so the sauce may set thicker (the hot-water splash in the method is the fix), or the strands may need a little more water to finish cooking; (2) whether the strands hold together through the skillet toss without breaking up; be gentle with the tongs, and lift-and-turn rather than stir.
No cream, no flour, no garlic. The traditional Alfredo is pasta, butter, cheese, water, and salt, and the starch in the cooking water does the thickening.
Grate the cheese yourself, as fine as you can. Pre-grated cheese is coated to keep it from clumping in the bag, and that coating keeps it from melting smoothly into an emulsion.
Grana Padano is the pick for the skillet version because it is aged less than Parmigiano-Reggiano and melts more smoothly; Parmigiano-Reggiano works in its place.
Rennet note: Grana Padano and Parmigiano-Reggiano are traditionally made with animal rennet. If the meal needs to be fully vegetarian, use a hard Italian-style grating cheese made with vegetarian rennet and grate it the same way.
Leftovers: this dish is at its best the minute it is made. The emulsion tightens as it sits; revive leftovers gently over low heat with a splash of water, tossing until glossy again.