Cooking with Shail

Hey!! Today’s recipe is Pasta in white sauce. There are many kinds of pasta available in the market. I have used macaroni pasta in the recipe. You can use Bow, penne or shell pasta also for this recipe. The sauces used for pasta are basically white sauce, red sauce and pesto sauce. All three are very flavorful and herbs used to make these sauces give them delicious aroma. My favorite is the white sauce which is creamy and cheesy. It is very simple to make it and is ready within few minutes using very few ingredients. While cooking the white sauce just be careful not to over boil the sauce as it will become thick and not coat the pasta evenly. Cook this sauce and immediately consume it as it tends to become thick if kept for long. Just follow the steps below and yummy pasta will be ready.

Ingredients:

For Pasta:

Macaroni Pasta- 1 cup or 150 gms

Water- 3 cups

Salt- 1 tsp

Oil- 2 tsp

For Sauce:

Butter- 2 tbsp

All purpose Flour (Maida)- 2 tbsp

Milk- 2 cups

Oregano- 2 tsp

Chilli Flakes- 3 tsp

Italian seasoning- 1 tsp

Garlic Powder- 1/2 tsp

Grated Processed Cheese – 1/2 cup

Salt as per taste

Black Pepper Powder – 1 tsp

For Vegetables:

Oil – 1

Broccoli- 1/2 cup

Carrot- 1/4 cup

French Beans- 1/4 cup

Garlic Paste- 1 tsp

Oregano- 1/2 tsp

Chilli Flakes- 1/4 tsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp

Black Pepper Powder- 1/2 tsp

Method:

For Pasta:

1. In a deep bottomed pan add the water, pasta, salt and oil and let it boil.
2. After 5 minutes check the pasta. If the pasta breaks easily then it is ready. Dont over cook the pasta as they will turn chewy. It should be soft and can be broken easily. Check using a spoon it should cut easily.
3. Keep stirring in between so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
4. Once cooked strain the pasta and keep aside.

For Vegetables:

1. In a pan add 1 tsp oil and add the garlic paste and vegetables and saute for 5 mins. Do not over cook the vegetables. Leave them half cooked and crunchy.
2. Add the salt, pepper powder, chilli flakes and oregano and mix well.
3. Keep aside.

For Sauce:

1. In a pan add butter. Once the butter becomes bit warm add the all purpose flour and saute for 1-2 minutes till the flour mixes completely with the butter.
2. Now add the milk and blend using a blender or whisk it with a hand whisker thoroughly so that all the lumps are gone. Now add the salt, pepper, chilli flakes, oregano, Italian seasoning and garlic powder and let it boil for 4-5 mins.
3. The milk will thicken in consistency. The consistency should not be too thick and should coat the spoon evenly. At this stage add the cheese and mix well.
4. Now add the veges and pasta and mix well. Let it cook on low flame for 2 mins till the veges and pasta absorb the flavor.
5. Switch of the gas and serve hot garnished with cheese, chilli flakes and oregano.
6. If you feel the sauce has turned too thick add a little warm milk to adjust the consistency.
7. Salt is added in the pasta and vegetables also hence add salt in sauce accordingly as cheese also has its own saltiness.
8. You can add vegetables as per your choice.