Fettuccine Alfredo

I was so excited the other day when a friend of mine lent me her copy of Giada's Everyday Italian cookbook.  Perusing the cookbook was like watching a marathon on the Food Network, and I wanted to begin cooking after reading the first recipe.  I decided to use Giada's Fettuccine Alfredo recipe and surprise my mother with dinner.  The recipe results in cooked pasta with a creamy and citrus-y sauce that was actually very good.  I added the broccoli and chicken because of my own preference, but I'm sure you may add your own vegetables and meat of choice.  The following recipe is a combination of Giada's recipe with my personal additions:

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• salt (to taste)
• 9 ounces fresh fettuccine (or pasta of your choice)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ground pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot, whisk together 1 cup of the cream and the lemon juice.  Add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally just until the butter melts.  Stir in the lemon zest and nutmeg.  Remove from heat.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the fettuccine (or other dried pasta) and salt and cook until tender but still firm to the touch (stir occasionally).  Drain and add the pasta, the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, the Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the cream sauce in the skillet.  Toss over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.  Season with more salt and pepper to taste.  Keep the flame on simmering.
3. To make the broccoli, boil 3 cups of water in a small pot.  Wash 2 cups of sliced broccoli florets, and added the broccoli and a teaspoon of salt to the boiled water.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, and drain.  Add the broccoli to the skillet.  Using leftover chicken or slices of meat from your local market's rotisserie chicken, slice the chicken into thin strips of meat to be added to the pot.   
4. Toss all the ingredients in the pot together while simmering for one minute.  Serve immediately.