My rule has always been single cream for cooking, double cream for desserts.

What you need is cr�me fra�che. You could use whipping cream with a little lemon juice or vinegar / cider vinegar added. Cr�me fra�che is very slightly acidic and doesn't curdle or separate when heated, which other creams are prone to do. Cr�me fra�che is often around 45% fat, but by the sounds of it a half-fat or lower fat version of cr�me fra�che will do the trick here, if cooked slowly and well mixed, or just use somewhat less than the recipe quantity.

I have prepared cooked sauces with heavy whipping cream (Alfredo), sour cream (enchilada) and half & half (seafood casserole) without curdling issues. I’d say use whichever you have or can easily find. Out here in the wilderness (20 miles to the nearest grocery) one learns to substitute.

Just wonder if you temper the dairy?

Much closer for me, but high fat yogurt substitutes for sour cream, and both will substitute for cream in a pinch.

I will make it even easier for you....technically authentic Alfredo does not have cream....3 ingredients: butter, parm, fettuccine (s & p, of course).

Not usually.

Yes, I�ve subbed yogurt as well.

I forget where I got that recipe. Definitely had butter & parm & whipping cream. It was very rich (and yummy) but one of those dishes you shouldn�t have more than once a year.

American alfredo is a whole different dish. Similar a number of Italian foods in fact

I'd venture to speculate this was because there were ingredients that were readily available and affordable in the new country that presence were not readily available and/or affordable in Italy (or name your ethnic cuisine), as well as the reverse. More so in the past than the past few decades at least in the U.S. Tortillas appear to be a substitute for Chinese spring roll wrappers in Central America

Since Orthodox Jews usually separate milk products from other foods, the cooking cream may not be milk based. You may want to try a store that caters to Orthodox Jews to find what you are looking for.

This has nothing to do with orthodox Jews; it's milk-based.

LOL, ahh typos Corrected

Well, I went to the store today and bought a carton of "light cream," which seems promising. I'm going to try to cook this one night this week, depending on how motivated I feel.

Edit: Aaaaaaaannnndddd I forgot to buy the spinach. Argh.

OK - following up; I acquired the misbegotten spinach and made the dish tonight. It came out wonderfully - really tasty, creamy and cheesy with a great tomato flavor. I discovered that I don't have a baking/casserole dish big enough for it so had to bake it in a stainless steel soup pot - not ideal but not a serious problem; just seems to take a bit longer to cook through. I think this will have a definite spot in my winter rotation. Next time I'll probably increase the oven temperature a bit and leave it in a bit longer to try to make the pasta/cheese on top crispy. I was too impatient and hungry tonight to wait for that!

It was also a nice project to take my mind off the world for a while, which is definitely something I need these days.

You should be able to get a Pyrex baking dish pretty cheap. Also, I wouldn't crank up the heat...dishes with cream can separate or curdle. I don't understand why the cheese on top didn't crisp up...was the pan not filled to the top? You could always put it under the broiler for a minute at the end or sprinkle some panko on top.