A jar of alfredo sauce turns pasta into dinner in under twenty minutes. This shelf item is built for fettuccine, so lean into it with pasta water and black pepper to build the sauce into something that coats each strand.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 10 at the stove.

About 690 calories a serving, 22 g protein, 103 g carbohydrate, 20 g fat. From USDA figures for 75% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large pot and salt it with 1 teaspoon salt. Add 8 ounces fettuccine and stir well. Cook until just tender, about 9 to 11 minutes; start tasting at 9 minutes.10 min
2. While the pasta cooks, pour the jar of alfredo into a wide shallow pan or skillet over medium heat. Stir often and let it warm through, about 4 minutes. Do not let it boil.5 min
3. Reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining the fettuccine. Add the hot pasta to the warm alfredo sauce and toss well. Pour in 1/4 cup pasta water and toss again. The sauce will loosen and coat the strands; add more pasta water a splash at a time if it looks too thick.
4. Crack 1/2 teaspoon black pepper over the pasta, toss once more, and serve right away on warm plates.

Note Swap in penne or rigatoni if you lack fettuccine. Leftovers keep three days covered in the fridge and can be loosened with pasta water or cream when you reheat them gently. Serve with a green salad and crusty bread to stretch the meal.