“Shall I make us a little Christmas Fettuccine?” I’ve been ready to make this pasta dish my whole life. It combines all the beautiful things I know about a great recipe which is freshly made pasta and good cheese. This is of course inspired by the hit holiday movie “The Holiday” and as one of my favorite movies, I hope I do the recipe justice. A very simple pasta recipe started with butter and fresh garlic, then reduced with a good white wine. Add some heavy cream before melting in your Pecorino and Parmigiano cheeses to the sauce. A creamy funky sauce that can’t be complete without a few grinds of fresh nutmeg.

If you’re going to make Christmas fettuccine with me you are going to have to have a glass of wine with you. Just don’t forget to set aside a little bit of that wine for your recipe.

I say this all the time and it’s worth reiterating, when you’re making a simple pasta recipe be sure to use high quality ingredients. Simple pastas REQUIRE high quality ingredients to make a good recipe. Starting with a nice aged wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano and some refrigerated Pecorino Romano cheese. For the sake of keeping things simple, I bought already made fresh pasta at my local Whole Foods to save time. Feel free to make your pasta for this. Be sure to find yourself a jar of whole nutmeg. Don’t use that old ground stuff that’s been sitting in your pantry for too long. It will overpower the dish in a bad way. Once you’ve got everything, it’s time to get to work.

Slow cook your garlic in the melted butter first. This helps sweeten the garlic and importantly keeps the garlic from cooking too fast. Remember this is a simple pasta and we have a glass of wine to attend to. Next we deglaze. To safely deglaze a pan, turn the heat off and add your reserved wine. This will prevent the flambe. Turn the flame on when the pan stops sizzling, then add in your cream. This process takes a gentle simmer and time. Gently stir your cream as it simmers to prevent it from boiling over as you reduce the sauce. This will make for a more concentrated flavor that will adhere well to the pasta. Stir in your cheeses on low handful by handful and grate in your nutmeg. The sauce should be very rich and well seasoned. DON’T adjust your seasonings until the pasta has been tossed. Finish your pasta in the sauce adding a few glugs of salted pasta water to help distribute that thick cream sauce. Plate it up and finish with more parmesan and nutmeg.

I learned that eating pasta on Christmas Eve is a tradition amongst traditional Italian people to avoid eating meat thus Christmas pasta was born. You’ve heard of The Feast of the Seven Fishes before, but have you heard of the Christmas Fettuccine tradition before? Today we start!