Weaning recipe: Pea pesto with pasta shapes

White sauce pasta recipe with step by step photos. White sauce pasta is one of the easiest pasta recipes that one can make. It’s also one of the most popular pasta recipes. To make this delicious white sauce pasta, one just needs to prepare white sauce. Then add cooked pasta. Some steamed veggies can also be added to increase the nutrition value.

You can also make white sauce pasta with mix veggies so that the kids can eat some veggies along with the pasta. I have previously shared a Vegetable pasta in white sauce, which is a different method than this one. Both the white sauce pasta recipes taste good.

In this recipe also, you can add some steamed or cooked or sauteed or roasted veggies. I have mentioned in the step by step photos, at which step you can add mix vegetable like carrots, green peas, beans, cauliflower, capsicum, sweet corn, broccoli, zucchini or baby corn.

INGREDIENTS

For white sauce

• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 1 tablespoon Whole wheat flour OR 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Chilled milk OR 250 ml chilled milk
• ¼ teaspoon Black pepper powder Or add as required
• Generous pinch of nutmeg Or grated nutmeg
• Salt as required

For cooking pasta

• 1 cup Penne pasta OR 100 grams penne pasta
• 4 cups Water
• ¼ teaspoon Salt Or add as required

Other ingredients

• ¼ teaspoon Dry oregano
• ¼ teaspoon Dried basil
• ¼ teaspoon Dried thyme OR ¾ to 1 teaspoon mixed herbs

For garnish

• Any herb of your choice Or some spring onion greens
• Vegetarian permesan cheese Or grated cheddar cheese - add as required (OPTIONAL)

INSTRUCTIONS

making white sauce

• Heat a saucepan. Keep the flame to a low and add 2 tablespoons butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter.
• When the butter melts and starts to bubble, then add 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour or 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.
• Using a wired whisk stir the flour quickly as soon as you add it. Keep on stirring so that no lumps are formed. The frequent stirring helps the flour to cook evenly. You will see the flour frothing and bubbling up while stirring. Sauté the flour till you get a nice cooked aroma from the flour and a pale golden color. Don't brown the flour.
• Keep the flame to the lowest and then pour 1 cup chilled milk in a gentle stream. Pour the milk with one hand and stir the sauce mixture with the other. The milk has to be chilled, so that lumps are not formed. If you use hot or warm milk or milk at room temperature, lumps can be formed.
• Do stir frequently while the milk warms and heats up.
• On a low flame, simmer the sauce till it thickens.
• When the sauce has thickened well and coats the back of a spoon, switch off the flame.
• Keep the saucepan down 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 cheddar cheese
• Mix very well and keep aside. Do note that on cooling white sauce will thicken more. So you can keep the consistency accordingly.