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Pasta Recipe White sauce (Béchamel Sauce)
Pasta is one of the most popular dishes in the world that is eaten all across the globe on a daily basis. Originally Pasta comes from Italy, and usually it is drawn into thin noodles (spaghetti) or shaped In different shapes (like penne, macaroni or fusilli), these are the commonly available shapes in India but there are many more pastas available in Italy like ravioli, farfalle and many more, and each one gives your palette a new and unique flavor that you have never experienced before.
In India the pasta recipe white sauce we usually make is a white sauce that is made with a roux of all-purpose flour (Maida) toasted in butter and adding milk and simmered to desired consistency, but in authentic Italian pasta sauce preparation there are some additional steps and tips and tricks that will make your white sauce pasta stand out from the normal home cooked pasta and taste just like you ordered it from your favorite restaurant or café.
About This Recipe
- Pasta Recipe white sauce : White Sauce Pasta is an easy-to-make yet very delicious version of pasta in a delicious commonly known white sauce – Authentically known as Béchamel sauce.
- In this recipe we simply prepare the béchamel sauce – a mixture of butter, milk, flour and spices and stir it in with your cooked pasta.
- This popular dish is absolutely vegetarian and it can be served as an appetizer or even as dinner when served along with toasted bread.
- You can add some mixed vegetables to make it more filling and nutritious. Some vegetables that go great with this recipe are carrots, green peas, French beans, cauliflower, peppers (capsicum), sweet corn, broccoli, zucchini or baby corn.
- When preparing any pasta dish, whole durum wheat pasta is always a great healthy choice. I have used whole wheat pasta in this recipe, however, you can use any pasta you prefer
- Adding mixed vegetables to this classic pasta recipe white sauce dish is a great way to have your family some veggies along with their pasta. These vegetables can be steamed, cooked, sautéed or roasted.
Ingredients
Ingredients you will need to prepare the béchamel sauce for pasta recipe white sauce –
For Cooking Pasta
- 1 cup durum wheat pasta or 100 grams durum wheat pasta
- 4-5 cups water
- ¼ teaspoon salt or add as per your required taste
For White Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ( You Can Opt for whole wheat flour if you wish to make it healthier)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 cloves
- 1 small onion
- 1 cup chilled full cream milk or 250 ml chilled full cream milk ( You Can Opt for toned or double toned milk if you wish to make it healthier)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder or add as required
- ¼ teaspoon or a generous pinch of nutmeg or grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt or as per your required taste
- ¼ teaspoon dry oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme or ¾ to 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
For Garnish
- any herbs of your choice or some spring onion greens
- parmesan cheese or grated cheddar cheese or any other cheese available in market ( I usually use Mozzarella and cheddar mix cheese)– add as required (optional , totally skip if you wish to make this dish healthier)
Recipe
A.) Cooking pasta
- Boil 4 cups water with ½ teaspoon salt in a pan
- When the water comes to a boil, add 1 cup penne pasta.
- Cook the pasta on a medium to high flame, it may take 8-10 minutes for the pasta to completely cook.
- When the pasta gets done to an al dente (cooked but chewy) texture, switch off the flame. For a softer texture, cook the pasta a little longer, Strain the pasta with a strainer spoon.
- B) Making the Béchamel sauce
- Take a non-stick saucepan and heat it. Make sure to keep the flame to low-medium and add 2 tablespoons butter. You can use any butter you can find in market.
- When the butter melts and starts to bubble, then add 2 tablespoon whole wheat flour or 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour as per your choice.
- Now we need to stir the flour in the butter as quickly as you add it. Make sure you keep on stirring so that no lumps are formed and frequent stirring helps the flour to cook evenly.
The flour will begin to show frothing and bubbling up during this process. Keep Sautéing it until you get a nice cooked aroma and the flour is a pale golden colour. Don’t brown/burn the flour too much.
- Keep the flame on low and then pour 1 cup chilled full cream milk in the pan with one hand slowly and keep stirring the sauce mixture with the other. The milk has to be chilled, so that lumps do not form.
- Take a Medium onion and wrap it with a bay leaf, and stick it with 2-3 cloves, (this will give it the café like aroma and taste). Stir frequently while the milk heats up.
- On a low flame, simmer the sauce until it thickens. When the sauce has thickened well and coats the back of a spoon, switch off the flame.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the seasonings – ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder, a generous pinch of nutmeg powder or grated nutmeg and salt as required.
For a cheese sauce, you can add 2 tablespoons of grated mixed cheese. I prefer a mix of mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
- Mix very well and remove the bay leaf wrapped onion, and set the sauce aside. Keep in mind that the sauce will thicken as it cools, so keep the consistency accordingly.
- Then add pasta to the white sauce.
- Add ¼ teaspoon each of dried oregano, dried basil and dried thyme. Or add your choice of herbs. At this step you can add some steamed, cooked, sautéed or roasted veggies if you’d like. Mix very well.
- Serve white sauce pasta garnished with some fresh herbs like parsley, chives or dill. You can also garnish with some grated cheddar cheese. Your Pasta Recipe white sauce is ready.
Tips to keep in mind while making the pasta recipe white sauce
- Stirring and mixing flour:After you add the flour, you need to keep on stirring often so that lumps are not formed. Frequently stirring the flour also cooks the flour evenly. You will notice the flour frothing and bubbling when you sauté it. You have to sauté flour until you get lump free roux with a nutty aroma and the flour gets a pale golden colour.
- White sauce free of lumps:To make a lump-free sauce, use cold milk. Hot, warm or milk at room temperature causes lumps in the sauce which ruins the taste.
- Burnt sauce : Make sure the roux for the sauce does not turn dark brown or burn and avoid keeping the flame at a high temperature as it will make the sauce bitter
- Checking whether the white sauce is perfect consistency:When you see that the sauce is thick enough that it coats the back of the spoon, it has thickened well. Also make sure the sauce is not too thin or else the pasta will seem like a curry or stew.
- For a cheesy version of pasta recipe white sauce:Add 2 tablespoons of freshly grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese for a cheesy white sauce. You can add 1-2 tablespoon of any grated cheese (but if you are in love with cheese like me you can add as much as you would like).
- Herbs & Veggies: You can add both fresh herbs and dried herbs of your choice. When you add the herbs, you can also add steamed, roasted or sautéed veggies.
Some Questions You may have regarding the recipe
- Can you not make this pasta if you are vegan? : Absolutely not, you just need to replace full cream milk with Almond milk or oat milk, and it works very nicely in the recipe. Just cook almond milk or oat milk on a low heat so that it does not split or becomes grainy. Also replace butter with any butter alternative you may want to.
- How can I add chicken to this dish? : You can roast, grill, bake or sauté your chicken in any spices you want and add this as a good source of protein in the dish. You can also add any seafood like salmon, shrimp, prawns or anything else you would like to.
- How can I make this dish healthy? : You can add some mixed vegetables to make it more filling and nutritious. Some vegetables that go great with this recipe are carrots, green peas, French beans, cauliflower, peppers (capsicum), sweet corn, broccoli, zucchini or baby corn. Adding mixed vegetables to this classic pasta dish is a great way to have your family some veggies along with their pasta. These vegetables can be steamed, cooked, sautéed or roasted.
Some Nutritional Facts about pasta
- Pasta is a good source of folic acid which is a key nutrient in a woman’s childbearing years.
- Pasta is a low-fat and high-carbohydrate food.
- Lycopene, a naturally abundant antioxidant found in tomatoes is another benefit to eating pasta topped with the traditional sauce.
- Pasta contributes six of the eight essential amino acids to the diet; however, when combined with dairy, meat, or other complementary protein foods, the protein available is a complete protein containing all the essential amino acids.
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