This is one of those pasta recipes that I learnt very early when I started cooking (along with basic dal). When I was younger white sauce pasta used to my favorite. And since I didn’t know how to make it and mom never made it either, I would always look for occasions so that we could eat out and I could order my favorite white sauce pasta.
So when I started cooking, I knew I had to learn to make a good homemade white sauce pasta loaded with veggies. This isn’t health food but I make this when we want to eat a nice cozy bowl of pasta. It’s also great to make when you have friends over for dinner or even during holidays! My brothers and sisters love this pasta a lot, so whenever I go to India, I make this on repeat. I add tons of cheese when I make for them because they love it that way.
This white sauce is also known as béchamel sauce and has it’s origin in French cuisine.
Classic béchamel sauce is made with butter, flour and milk. For this pasta, I add little cream and little cheese to make it extra creamy, so you can say that this sauce is kind of a mix between alfredo and béchamel. But you can totally skip the cream and cheese and stick with milk only to make the classic version.
There are 2 main parts to this recipe- the veggies and the sauce and of course there’s the pasta.
Pasta: I like using penne pasta probably because that’s how I always had it in India but you can definitely use other pasta shapes. Macaroni and Rigatoni will also work well. I personally don’t like using spaghetti.
Veggies: You can use any veggies that you like in this pasta, the day I made this pasta, I had peppers and broccoli at home and that’s what I used in the recipe along with onion and sweet corn. I also use tons of garlic because garlic just goes so well in this pasta.
Milk: I like using whole milk but 2% would also work. Adding cream makes it richer.
Seasonings: I have added dried Italian seasoning and dried oregano, you can use herbs like basil and thyme as well. Add more or less of the seasoning and adjust to taste.
How to Make White Sauce Pasta
We start with making the classic white sauce with butter, flour and milk. The important thing here is to use a whisk when you add in the milk and whisk continuously until all the flour and milk is mixed well together.
I high recommend using a whisk else you might get lumps in your sauce and that’s no fun!
Once you have made the base, you add in the seasonings and cheese (if you like!) and then toss in the veggies and you are done.
I like sauteing my veggies before adding them to the sauce. I only slightly cook them in some butter, this way they remain crunchy and retain their color and crunch when added to the sauce.
The prep work for this pasta takes a bit of time since there’s some chopping involved but once you have got everything chopped and ready to go, it comes together pretty quickly.
To make this pasta less creamy: use milk only (no heavy cream) and skip the cheese!
If you want a more saucy pasta: reduce the quantity of pasta to 100 grams (1 cup).
Step by Step Method
1-Boil 150 grams of pasta according to instructions on the package. I used regular penne pasta which was supposed to be boiled for 9 to 11 minutes. and drain. Make sure you don’t overcook your pasta, you want it al-dente. Note: use only 1 cup pasta if you like more sauce in your pasta. While the pasta is boiling chop all the veggies.
2- Once the pasta is boiled, drain it using a colander and set aside.
3- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan on medium heat. Add all the veggies –
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 1 medium red pepper, sliced
- 3/4 cup small broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup sweet corn (frozen corn which I added to hot water for 5 minutes before using).
4- Cook the veggies for 2 minutes. They should remain crunchy. You can use other veggies like carrots, peas as well.
5- Once done, remove veggies onto a plate.
6- To another pan or you can use the same pan, now add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining tablespoon of butter.
7- Once the butter melts, add the 5-6 chopped garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
8- Then add in 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of flour.
9- Whisk the flour continuously, using a wire whisk for around 30 to 60 seconds. You don’t have to brown the flour much.
10- Then add in 2 cups of milk. You can also add 1/4 cup heavy cream here or use additional 1/4 cup milk.
11- Mix everything using a whisk so that there are no lumps formed.
12- Add in the seasonings:
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes (to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- black pepper, to taste
13- Mix in everything and let the sauce simmer.
14- Sauce will thicken as it simmers and in 4 to 5 minutes it will coat the back of the spoon. Turn heat to lowest.
15- Add in the veggies and the boiled pasta.
16- Toss until the pasta and veggies are coated with the sauce. Taste test and adjust the seasonings at this point. Serve warm!
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