Pasta is all time favorite for many kids! My kids love to have pasta even everyday for their lunch. But I make it once a week for their lunch box. But always Pasta tastes awesome when served hot. I usually make Indian Style Masala Pasta and Basil Pesto Pasta and also Avocado Pesto Pasta. But once I made white sauce pasta and kids loved it so much that they keep asking for more white pasta.
What is White Sauce?
White sauce is basically butter with all purpose flour cooked with milk and enhanced with cheese. The whole sauce when cooked in low flame with patience will have their beautiful white color and creamy texture. If we are concerned with the usage of maida (all purpose flour), we can alternate with besan (gram flour) or Wheat Flour. I have tried many times with wheat flour and it didn't change any taste or flavor. Once a while taking a tablespoon of maida will not impact much. So We can make it rarely with maida.
What type of Pasta to use?
When I look for White Pasta in the web, I usually see the white creamy sauce coated on Penne Pasta. But we can use any type of pasta for this White sauce. There is no such hard and fast rule to use only Penne Pasta.
How to cook Perfect Pasta?
- Always use boiling water to cook pasta. Also cook pasta just before serving.
- Adding salt while boiling pasta makes it more tastier than adding salt later with the sauce.
- Add only little oil when cooking pasta. More oil will make the pasta so smooth and sauce will not properly coat the cooked pasta
- Cooking time may vary with different kinds of pasta depending upon their thickness and shapes. Most kinds of pasta are cooked between 8 to 12 minutes.
- Once pasta has reached the “al dente” stage, turn off heat. "al dente" means, tender but still firm when you bite into it.
- Drain the excess water once the pasta is cooked. Also Rinse the cooked pasta to remove starchy water. We can retain the drained water and add it to the sauce to adjust the consistency(not for white sauce pasta)
What Veggies and herbs can we use?
Veggies are our choice. If we want a white creamy pasta to be perfectly white and cheesy we can exclude veggies. I personally like the green bell pepper, carrot and corn in white pasta. We can also use red and orange bell peppers that will give a very nice appealing look in this white sauce. Also we can use Basil, Oregano, Italian Seasoning for added flavors. Some use even lemon zest to give a slight tangy flavor.
Recipe Card for White Sauce Pasta:
Creamy White Sauce Pasta
Equipments Needed
- Heavy Bottomed Pan
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Pasta Any type of Pasta is good. I used Penne Pasta
- 3 Cups Water 1 Cup - 250ml
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
- Salt As Needed
Prepare Veggies
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 2 Garlic Cloves Finely Chopped
- 1 Onion Finely Chopped
- ½ Green Capsicum Finely Chopped
- ½ Carrot Finely Chopped
- 1 tablespoon Sweet Corn
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Prepare White Sauce
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 tablespoon Maida (All Purpose Flour)
- 1.5 Cups Milk
- ½ Cup Grated Cheese
- ¼ teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- ½ teaspoon Pepper Powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian Seasoning For Garnishing
Instructions
Cooking Pasta
- Add 3 cups of water in sauce pan and bring the water to boil
- Add oil and salt and let the water come to rolling boil
- Add the pasta and cook the pasta till it is soft
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water from pasta and set it aside
Preparing Veggies
- Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add chopped garlic and saute garlic for a minute
- Now toss in the chopped onions and saute onions till translucent
- Once the onions turn translucent, add chopped capsicum, carrot and corn and in low flame saute the veggies. The veggies should retain the crunchiness and not be so mushy. Saute the veggies for 2 mins and then switch off the flame. Set this veggies aside
Prepare White Sauce
- Heat butter in a sauce pan. Add maida and fry in butter for a minute in very low flame
- Then add milk little by little and incorporate with the butter and maida. Add milk ¼ cup at a time and incorporate. Do not add all milk at once
- Once all the milk is poured, add cheese and stir well
- Then, add the sauteed veggies along with salt, red chili flakes and pepper powder and give a good stir
- Finally add cooked pasta and combine well. Finally garnish with Italian Seasoning.
- Serve the rich and creamy White Sauce Pasta hot and enjoy the delicious pasta
Video
Notes
- I tried using besan in place of maida and it didn't change the taste. So If we are concerned with the usage of maida we can alternate with Wheat flour
- Vegetables are our choice. We can use only colored bell peppers and exclude carrot and corn
- Always cook the butter mixture in low flame that will ensure the sauce to be white without getting burnt
Nutritional Info
Method Creamy White Pasta:
COOKING PASTA
-
Add 3 cups of water in sauce pan and bring the water to boil. Add oil and salt and let the water come to rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook the pasta till it is soft. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water from pasta and set it aside
PREPARING VEGGIES
-
Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add chopped garlic and saute garlic for a minute. Now toss in the chopped onions and saute onions till translucent
-
Once the onions turn translucent, add chopped capsicum, carrot and corn and in low flame saute the veggies. The veggies should retain the crunchiness and not be so mushy. Saute the veggies for 2 mins and then switch off the flame. Set this veggies aside
PREPARE WHITE SAUCE
-
Heat butter in a sauce pan. Add maida and fry in butter for a minute in very low flame
-
Then add milk little by little and incorporate with the butter and maida. Add milk ¼ cup at a time and incorporate. Do not add all milk at once
-
Once all the milk is poured, add cheese and stir well. Then, add the sauteed veggies
-
Add salt, red chili flakes and pepper powder and give a good stir. Finally add cooked pasta and combine well.
-
Finally garnish with Italian Seasoning. Serve the rich and creamy White Sauce Pasta hot and enjoy the delicious pasta
