Pasta and Vegetables in White Sauce

If a lightly seasoned cheesy flavored sauce is what you crave then the white sauce with cheese is just right for you. The basic white or Béchamel sauce as it is known, can be enhanced with the addition of herbs and black pepper. This seasoned white sauce is a commonly added sauce to pasta / steamed veggies. Today, I combined all three - pasta, vegetables and white sauce to make a one dish meal. I resort to One dish meals when I am the only one eating at home. Most times I try and add as many vegetables to ensure I do not miss my daily quota. Quite often, the hassle of cooking for only one person overwhelms and we typically end up making a meal rich in carb & protein but without the required fibre and vitamins. 

It is commonly seen that people have chapati with chhole or paneer or aloo or chicken with absolutely no vegetables at all in that meal and believe it to be a complete meal. Many a times a dinner menu has paneer / aloo, chicken, a dal, roti and pulao with no vegetables whatsoever. Including a vegetable stir fry or a tossed salad would have made this very same menu a complete meal. Suffice it to say, try and add veggies and fruits for a healthy body and especially if there are children in the family. 

For now, let's get back to our recipe.

Ingredients

for white sauce

Butter - 1 tbsp

Flour - 1.5 tbsp

Milk - 1 cup

Cheese grated - 4 tbsp

White sauce is usually made with white flour but this time I used wheat flour and it was as good. To make the sauce heat some butter in a pan, when it melts completely, add the floor and mix well. Keep the heat on low and slowly add milk little by little and keep stirring to make a smooth sauce on low heat. In case there are lumps cheat a little and give it a quick whisk in a blender. Now I am sure the purists will scorn but less experts like me have to find a way around. Continue on low heat and add the cheese now and a pinch of black pepper and oregano as well. Take it off heat and use as suggested.

This white sauce can be made for any recipe suggesting it.

Pasta - 1 cup

Vegetables - 1 cup

(I used a mix of baby corn, broccoli, mushroom, green beans and capsicum)

Black pepper pwd - a few dashes

Oregano - few dashes

Salt to taste

Boil about 3 cups of water, add some salt and cook the pasta in it.

Clean and cut the vegetables and steam it lightly with a dash of salt. Add a dash of black pepper and oregano and mix. Stir these vegetables into the white sauce and keep aside. Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the vegetable and sauce mix. Mix well and add a little more cheese if you like.

Serve it into bowls and enjoy.

Pasta with Vegetables in Marinara Sauce

On a cold afternoon, curled up on the sofa, wrapped in a throw with something hot, tasty and comforting to eat, makes for a cozy day. And today's yummy and hot lunch in a bowl was a pasta with sautéed vegetables in marinara sauce topped with cheese. The marinara sauce makes a tangy base for this pasta. 

Ingredients

Pasta - 1 cup
Vegetables - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2
Green onion - 2 bulbs
Marinara sauce - 1/3 cup
Oregano - a couple of dashes
Pepper pwd - 1/4 tsp
Salt as per taste
Cheese - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp

The vegetables I used was a mix of diced green beans, green pepper, zucchini, and a few sticks of celery, basically whatever was suitable for a pasta in the refrigerator. Vegetables like yellow and red peppers, baby corn, broccoli can also be included. The cheese I used was Cheezza, a Britannia brand - a mix of mozzarella and cheddar cheese.  

 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

In a saucepan, add 3 cups water and the pasta with some salt (a little goes very far) and cook the pasta. Drain the pasta and keep aside. In a frying pan, add some oil and when it is hot add both the onions and sauté till translucent. Add the diced vegetables in and sauté on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and sprinkle a little salt, pepper and oregano to season. To this add the drained pasta, a little marinara sauce and mix well.

 

Take a baking pan and spread a little marinara sauce all over the bottom. Spoon all of the pasta on this sauce and level it. Sprinkle the grated cheese on the pasta and pop it into the oven to bake till the cheese is completely melted and runny. Switch off the oven and wait for a few minutes before serving. If you are a cheese lover, go ahead and sprinkle some parmesan on the pasta when serving.

 

My Pasta with Vegetables in Marinara Sauce goes to - Bake Fest @ Cooks Joy

Quick and Simple Pasta with Broccoli tossed in Butter

When I am in the mood for pasta and do not want to invest too much time making a sauce for it, I resort to this quick and simple way of making pasta. My recipe uses butter and relies on its delectable though sinful taste to up its yum factor. Since this recipe does not have any vegetables I decided on cooking the last bit of broccoli I had lying in the refrigerator. I like to pair bell peppers and onion with the broccoli for a good crunchy stir fry. Broccoli does not do well when over cooked so always add it last and give it only a few tosses. Since I did not have any bell peppers I decided on using only the broccoli today. 

 

Ingredients for the Quick and Simple Pasta

Pasta - 1/2 cup

Onion - 1 medium

Tomato - 1.5 medium

Garlic - 1 clove

Oregano - quick sprinkling

Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp

Butter - 1 tbsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Cheese - 2 tbsp

In a pot put about 1.5 cups of water to boil with some salt. When the water boils add the pasta and cook till the pasta is done. Reserve a couple of spoons of water and drain the pasta and keep aside.

Chop the onion, tomatoes and garlic. I love to feel the crunch of the onions when eating and hence chop the onions into slightly bigger pieces.

Heat a pan and add the butter and oil. When hot add the onion and garlic and saute till the onion turns translucent. Then add the chopped tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes soften. Sprinkle a little salt to quicken the cooking of the tomatoes.

Add the cooked pasta and the reserved water and mix well. Stir till the water evaporates. Sprinkle the oregano and saute the pasta. Take off the heat.

Ingredients for the Broccoli tossed in Butter

Broccoli - 1 cup

Butter - 1 tbsp

Pepper pwd - a couple of pinches

Salt as per taste

Heat a pan and add the butter. When the butter is hot add the broccoli  and toss it till coated with the butter. Sprinkle salt and pepper powder and toss it well. Cook it for a few minutes without losing the crunchiness. Take it off the heat.

In a plate serve some pasta, grate some cheese over it and add some broccoli and a complete meal is ready. 

Farfalle Pasta in Zucchini and Aubergine Sauce

This is an easy and quick pasta recipe since the sauce comes from bottle - the Barilla Zucchini and Aubergine sauce. Normally, I prefer making the pasta sauce ground up but this time I had this bottle from a gift pack and decided to give it a try.

Ingredients

Farfalle pasta - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2
Tomato - 1
Garlic - 3
Olives - 1 tbsp
Barilla Zucchini and Aubergine Sauce - 3 tbsp
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - 4 cups
Salt as per taste
Cheese - 2 tbsp

Heat the water in a pot and when it starts boiling add salt to the water and then add the farfalle. Cook the farfalle till it is al dente (that is when the pasta sticks to the tooth when bitten) for the authentic Italian experience. I like my pasta cooked so it doesn't stick to the teeth which takes a couple of minutes more of cooking. Reserve about half a cup of this water and drain off the rest. Keep the pasta in a colander to drain off.
 

As much as possible, cook the pasta and the sauce simultaneously so that the pasta can be mixed with the sauce when still hot.
 

Chop the onions, tomatoes and garlic. Heat a pan, add olive oil and when it is hot add the garlic. Sauté the garlic for a minute and add the onions and sauté till the onions are translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and continue sautéing. Add the Barilla Zucchini and Aubergine Sauce and the pasta and mix well. Take off the heat and add the grated cheese to the pasta. Use parmesan cheese and if it is not available use the processed cheese available widely in the stores.

@Pizza Hut Chef's Table

Yesterday, I attended the Chef's Table hosted by Pizza Hut with their partner Barilla at the Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. Chef Arjyo Banerjee from Pizza Hut and Chef Luca Ciano from Barilla, together, led an interactive, live cook out session for a group of food enthusiasts and connoisseurs. It was a lively session with lots of conversation, discussion and tastings and we literally spent the time, seeing, breathing and tasting pastas.

The Chefs had planned a Menu of the Day, including Beverages, Appetizers, Pizzas (of course!), Pastas (the high note of the day) and Dessert. The invitees were welcomed with some nice coolers and the session started with Chef Arjyo preparing the Red O White pasta, fusilli tossed in a creamy and tangy sauce with baby corns and zucchini. During all this, the Appetizers - Assorted Veg and Non-Veg Platters were served at the table during this time and the participants were welcome to go up close and see the cooking session in progress. Chef Luca's warm Prawn and Pasta Salad with lemon and oregano followed this. The prawns was marinated in olive oil and seasonings and then tossed in warm spaghetti and although the prawns were not directly cooked it seemed so and had firmed up by the time the dish was served. Next, was a Lasagna Bolognese from Chef Arjyo and lastly, Chef Luca prepared a Penne Rigate with Sicilian Vegetable Caponata. This dish was a visual treat with aubergine peel juliennes, dusted with corn flour and fried and used to top off the penne.

After each cooking session by the Chef's, we were served a portion of their creations and then followed a healthy discussion on herbs, sauce - meat pairings, food presentation, plating, unique touches and several tips from the Chefs'. I will be sharing the tips in another post separately. Through all the work that the chefs put in, we invitees were plied with beverages, appetizers and traditional hand tossed pizza, all of which were yum.

 

The session was enlivened with the Chefs relating personal incidents like - Chef Arjyo relating how as a student he discarded the stalks of celery and retained the leaves like we do in the case of Coriander. And yes, some of the jokes were on us as well. Every time, we participants were asked if we treated our pastas in what Chef Luca called a criminal manner, my hand shot up. If we had a contest on who botched the Pasta Best, I would win, with, most probably, an eye-opening, personal cooking tutorial from the Chef himself and the Chef's Bag of goodies!!!

The evening ended on a sweet note with Warm Chocolate trio and an open forum where we could address our questions to the Chefs and Sunay Bhasin, the Director Marketing, Pizza Hut Dine In India.
The good news is that some of the dishes we tasted in there, will be introduced in the regular menu of Pizza Hut soon.
(Images from the event)

The Non-Veg Appetizer Platter

The Sipping Cheese Cake

The Veg Appetizer Platter

  

The Chefs @ Work

Chef Arjyo personally serving the Red O White pasta

Prawns marinating in olive oil, herbs and seasonings

Warm Prawn and Pasta Salad with lemon and oregano topped with seasoned bread crumbs

 Traditional hand tossed pizza with roasted bell pepper, arugula and parmesan

Penne Rigate with Sicilian Vegetable Caponata

Chef Luca serving the Penne Rigate with Sicilian Vegetable Caponata, the right way

Warm chocolate trio