Apr 06, 2010
I have been making this recipe for several years and still can't get enough of it! It is my husband's favorite dish (in fact, I'm pretty sure this is why he married me!) and he requests it constantly. The only time I had a problem with separating or a heavy butter flavor was the one time I used real butter instead of margarine. It still tasted very good, but the flavor was MUCH richer and it was significantly thicker overall. If you have trouble with the parmesan being too grainy or sticking to the bottom of the pot, try adding it right after mixing in the cream cheese and whisk well. It will be super thick before adding the milk, but the parmesan will blend better. If you are worried the 2c milk is too much, try mixing everything together and leaving it on low heat while you boil water for the pasta. It will thicken alot as it cools too. Other than that, the only real tweaking that I have done is to always ALWAYS add a healthy dash of oregano. Other seasonings may come and go, but I find oregano essential for rounding out that Italian flavor. **update** Since a few reviews suggested nutmeg I decided to experiment on what I thought was already perfection and it was definitely worth it! A good dash or two of nutmeg really adds depth and compliments the oregano too. **more update** For those who say they taste too much cream cheese, make sure you are using the whole 6oz of Parmesan. If you are using enough Parmesan it should become the dominant flavor.
—GottaFeedYa!
