Washington Restaurants

What type of cheese do they use in cheesy pasta sauces at Italian Restaurants?

I normally make a typical white sauce (using butter, flour and milk) and I add a basic mild cheddar cheese to the sauce near the end but it never seems to taste the same as the sauces I eat at Italian restaurants. Does anyone know what type of cheese they tend to use in basic cheese sauces or what else they add to the sauce? Thanks.

Public Comments

1. well it really depends but it is usually mozarella or parmesan or emmental
2. olive garden uses romano & parmesan in their alfredo. they're very similar in taste, but they are delicious together!
3. It would be a hard type of Italian grating cheese such as parmesan, romano or a mixture of the two. Sometimes asiago is used as well, but it is a milder & softer cheese than the two aforementioned. You should buy it in a block (it is expensive) and grate it yourself at home. They also may use half & half and/or whole milk. Butter, flour (to form a roux for thickening) is possible. Cheddar cheese is not an Italian cheese. If you want to use cheddar cheese, save it for macaroni & cheese casserole.
4. Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, Grana Padano Cheese, Asiago Classico, Pecorino Romano, Fontina, Fontal, Montasio - there are a lot of possibilities. Go to a specialty cheese store and ask to sample grating cheeses to go in a white sauce - they will let you try them and then you can pick which one(s) you like.