Last night I made dinner for my friends Melissa, Mike, and Jessica. (Team Neville couldn’t make it. We missed you guys, even though your absence meant more servings for the rest of us. But I think I’m going to try this again next time.)

I’ve never made an alfredo I was all the way happy with, though I’ve gotten close a couple of times. Usually they’re a little too thick or clumpy.

Not this one. This is the one where I figured it all out.

Heavy whipping cream, a whole jar of pesto, a whole giant can of grated Italian cheese blend, two giant slices of provolone, garlic, lemon pepper, mix it all together, and there you go.

I don’t believe in recipes. All too often I’ve watched people struggle to get the exact measurement of something, only to later lament that the finished product would have tasted better with a little more of that thing. So I prefer to throw delicious ingredients at something until it tastes good.

I served it with four pounds of sautéed shrimp that it took forever to peel the shells and tails off of (but you have to use raw shrimp for cooking purposes; they cook up so nicely, and otherwise you’re just making tough precooked shrimp even tougher) on top of fettucine, with a pound of similarly sautéed calamari (half tentacles, half tubes I sliced into rings) and three-cheese garlic bread on the side.

Lots more photos of most of the process are here.

What are YOU eating? Because I’d really like to know.