Orecchiette au gratin is an immensely satisfying mac & cheese-like dish. Then take it a step further and add salmon, broccoli and alfredo sauce … pure comfort food! Personally, I’ve always loved the taste of alfredo sauce with its creamy parmesan flavor. You might be surprised to know that alfredo sauce does not exist in Italy! Well, mostly.
The origin of this popular American dish comes from the love story between Alfredo Di Lelio and his wife, Ines. Alfredo, a young cook from Rome, prepared this dish for the first time in 1908 to entice his wife Ines to eat while she recovered from pregnancy; she was very weak and had lost her appetite after giving birth.
Alfredo made egg-fettuccine and dressed it with a mix of fresh butter and parmesan cheese. Fortunately, his wife not only loved the dish, but also suggested that he put this creamy pasta on his restaurant’s menu.
He later did introduce the dish, modestly named after himself, into the menu of his restaurant on via della Scofa in 1914. Some years later, in 1920 he famously served it to American film stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, who were visiting Rome on their honeymoon. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Alfredo’s original recipe does not call for cream; that was added when the dish crossed the ocean to North America. In the original version, the cheese is mixed vigorously with the pasta and a bit of the water in which the pasta is cooked, forming a creamy consistency without the actual cream.
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Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta al dente. Add broccoli to the pot 5 minutes before the pasta is done cooking. Drain.
- In another saucepan, heat the sauce over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir in pasta, broccoli, flaked roasted salmon & if desired basil.
- Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch baking dish, Cover with mozzarella & bake for 20-25 minutes.