Fettucine Alfredo is a rich pasta dish named after Alfredo di Lello, a Roman restaurateur who supposedly created it in the 1920s for his pregnant wife.

What he was really doing is just making a rich version of the classic Italian dish fettucine al burro and slapping his own name on it. Legend has it that his celebrity American clientele brought news of it to the States, and the rest is history.

But if classic Italian fettucine al burro is made with fresh fettucine, sweet butter and grated parmesan, the Italian-American Alfredo sauce is gluey and made richer with the unnecessary addition of heavy cream. It is often further mucked up with ham, peas, garlic and other ingredients.

Despite the name, Alfredo sauce can be used on other noodles, like orecchiette.