EASY SEAFOOD FETTUCCINE ALFREDO

We’re all very busy, so I’ll do my best to keep this short and concise. This recipe is geared towards those who are busy, chronically ill, or are otherwise struggling and find it difficult to get a meal on the table.

Ingredients:

1. One jar of your favorite Alfredo sauce

2. A box of dried fettuccine noodles

3. A bag of frozen seafood (shrimp, squid, octopus, or mussels work well here)

4. A bag of frozen broccoli

5. A stick of butter

6. Paprika

Seafood

1. Put two pots filled with water (halfway or 3/4 up the side is fine) to boil on medium-high heat on the stove. One pot should be large enough to accommodate fettuccine noodles, and the other could be medium or medium-small.

2. While waiting for the bigger pot to boil, pour your frozen seafood into the smaller pot. No need to wait for it to boil.

3. Drop 1/2 stick butter into the water with the seafood. Add a few dashes of paprika.

4. Leave the seafood to boil. If you added it at the start, it should boil for at least 5 minutes. If you added it once the water is already boiling, best to play it safe at 10 minutes.

5. Strain in a colander or other straining tool, and place into a serving dish.

6. Optional: add a pat of butter to the seafood in the serving dish and stir until the butter has melted. Add a few more dashes of paprika and stir again.

Noodles

1. Once the water in the bigger pot boils, add your fettuccine noodles. Follow the directions on the box for how long you should leave it to boil (likely 10-12 minutes). It’s more important that you time the noodles correctly than the seafood.

2. Strain your pasta and place into serving dish.

Broccoli

1. Pour the frozen broccoli into a medium-size microwave-safe bowl.

2. Add enough water so that the broccoli is submerged.

3. Microwave for 3-5 minutes.

4. Take out bowl. Strain the broccoli.

Sauce

1. Pour sauce into microwave-safe serving dish.

2. Microwave for 30 seconds. Take out, stir it, and microwave for another 30 seconds. You can add more time if it isn’t warm enough.

Place a bed of fettuccine noodles on each plate. Spoon helpings of seafood and broccoli on top of the noodles. Finish by pouring sauce over the top. There you go—an easy, quality meal.

Time spent cooking: Likely 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, as we know water takes a bit to start boiling.

You could always buy other types of meat that are sliced, cubed, or otherwise rendered to be easily chewed without needing a knife. My guess is this would work nicely with thinly sliced beef or lamb, or chicken cut into bite-sized pieces. Boiling meat is something that is often overlooked but a viable option if you don’t have the energy to stand over a frying pan for a while. However, if you do boil it, I would suggest you boil it in either beef or chicken soup stock. There are dried soup stocks as well that you can add to water to create an instant stock.

The butter in the seafood is optional. Feel free to substitute with olive oil for a healthier alternative.