Pasta in White Sauce With Mushrooms Tomato and Capsicum

This pasta was a part of our lunch last week. For all who are regular here definitely know by now how the pasta in all its varied flavours and tastes(a little soft corner for the pasta in white sauce thought) is a favourite with the daughter and so the endeavour to try out new variations each time. Dal rice two days in a stretch and the happiness quotient coming to the table seems to be dipping at a fast pace and so a meal like this which is sheer happiness and polished off in no time is a great idea both for her and me. Fast to cook and good to eat with veggies and nutrition thrown in keeps me happy and she is thrilled at finding pasta on the lunch menu. It is a total win-win situation. This has come to be favourite. Here is my pasta in white sauce with mushrooms tomato and capsicum. For those who want to make a few more additions, you may add strips of chicken and corn too.

Ingredients
For the White Sauce :
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp maida/all purpose flour
2 cups milk

For the Pasta :
Pasta - 100 gms (boiled and strained)
Tomato - 1 medium sized chopped into small pieces
Capsicum - 1 medium chopped into small pieces
Salt - to taste
Pepper - 1tsp
Garlic - 1 tsp (minced)
Oil - 1 tbsp
Oregano (dried) - 1/2 tsp
Mushrooms - 5 to 6 chopped fine or to the size of your choice

Method:
1- Boil Pasta in enough water with some salt. When done strain and wash thoroughly under cold running water. Keep aside.
2- Take a pan and add the butter and oil. Add the minced garlic and saute for a minute till the raw smell of garlic disappears. Now add the chopped tomato and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chopped capsicum amd mushrooms and saute till all the water content of the mushrooms dry up completely.
3- Now add the 2 tbsp of maida and saute for a minute or two. Add the milk little by little and keep stirring. Make sure to add the milk little by little or else you may have lumps forming that will spoil the complete texture of your white sauce.
4- Add in the oregano, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning. Let boil till the white sauce thickens and is of the desired consistency. Do not let it thicken too much as white sauce will thicken on its own too as it rests.
Switch off gas and transfer to a serving dish. Serve hot. You may add your choice of sides to add to your meal.

Mushroom and Chicken Pasta Recipe in White Sauce

Simple Pasta recipes that are easy to cook are what that I like. Fast to cook and good to eat. My daughter loves pasta, in fact “love” is an understatement …my vocabulary failed to come up with a better word to describe this extreme emotion. She can eat pasta almost any time of the day and be absolutely contented and happy. Have been making it atleast once a week or sometimes twice (the mom in me does not agree with any more pasta in the diet). She however, just doesn’t seem to have enough of it. This is a dish that she loves at the local restaurant and I have been trying hard to fine tune it to get to the perfect restaurant taste. It is one of her favorite pasta recipes although she hasn’t yet certified my dish to be a replica of the one made in the restaurant (I am happy as long as it can bring a smile to her face). I have made this so many times in the past few months that can do it almost blindfolded. The entire effort is to see her happy and enjoy the meal.

Mushrooms and chicken, my favourite too and yes, this is one that I too like to indulge in. A bowl of pasta we share and catch up on the happenings in school and life. It is amazing how time flies when you just sit down to talk, really interesting conversation it can be with a teenager. Adele, Victorious and iCarly have suddenly become such a vital part of my life. Fashion, hairstyles, high heels, the latest music and yes, some studies there is so much happening here. I am in fact, reliving my teen days with my little teenager taking me along on the roller coaster ride that makes life so beautiful and interesting.

Oh, I seemed to have taken off completely on the ride called life, here is coming back to the pasta recipe which is going to be re-created again tonight being Friday night…movie and pasta, a great combo.

Ingredients for the Chicken Pasta Recipe
Pasta -200 gms (boiled and drained) (have used macaroni here, you may substitute it with penne)
All purpose flour or maida – 1 tbsp
Garlic powder – 1 tsp(you may use fresh finely chopped garlic instead)
Paprika- 1 tsp
Parsley – 1 tsp (have used dried parsley here)
Pepper powder – ½ tsp
Milk – 1 to 1.5 cups
Butter/oil – 2 tbsp
Onions – 2 to 3 tbsp ( very finely chopped)
Chicken – 200 gms boneless (cut into very small pieces)
Mushroom – 100 gms( put in a bowl of hot water, remove wash and chop finely)
Salt – to taste

Method for making Chicken Pasta Recipe:

1-Boil pasta, drain and keep aside coating it with a spoon of oil.

2-Take a heavy bottomed pan and add in the 1 tbsp of oil/butter. Add the finely chopped onion and sauté till soft and golden brown. When the onions are almost done add in the chicken, a little salt (make sure to keep the salt right as you have added salt while boiling pasta and now will add more salt while making the white sauce). Saute and let the chicken cook. You know the chicken is done when the pink colour changes to white. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Take off the stove and keep aside.

3-In another pan, add the tbsp of all purpose flour and keep stirring till it turns golden brown and there is a nice aroma that fills the air. Add in the butter and mix. Mix in the milk little by little stirring continuously to avoid any lumps. Add the paprika, pepper powder and garlic powder and mix well. Add salt to taste. Keep stirring to ensure that you have a nice lump free mixture. Your white sauce should be thick however, flowy in consistency. The white sauce will thicken as it cools so make sure that you don’t make it too thick.

4-Add in the onion and chicken mixture. Mix well. Now add the boiled pasta and mix thoroughly. Garnish with parsley. Serve hot. You have a complete meal for 2 that will disappear in minutes.

Pasta Cooked in White Sauce with Spinach and Sausages

My daughter has fallen in love with pasta. Yes, pasta is what tops her list of current favourites. She is just loving the idea of simply having mac and cheese and pasta in almost any form is welcome these days. I had to come up with a recipe that would suit her tastebuds and also ensure the health aspect, so it was spinach and sausages for me. Pasta recipes sure are fun to experiment with and with an ardent pasta fan experimenting becomes a fun activity too. White sauce pasta recipes are her favourite with not so much an inclination shown towards the red sauce based pasta recipes and so white sauce it is going to be.

Ingredients:
Pasta – 200 gms
Spinach – 2 cups(blanched and finely chopped)
Sausages – 200 to 300 gms(lightly fried and cut into bite sized pieces)
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Olive oil - 1 tbsp(you can use normal cooking oil if you do not have olive oil)
Salt - to taste
Grated cheese – ½ cup (for the topping)

For the white sauce:
All purpose flour (Maida)- 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Milk – 1 to 1.5 cups
Cream - 2 to 3 tbsp(optional)
Garlic - 2 (finely chopped)
Paprika - 1/4 tsp(you can increase it in case you like your pasta spicy)
Pepper powder - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
Dry Basil – ¼ tsp

Method for pasta recipe:
1-Take a deep dish that can immerse the pasta completely. Fill with water, add some salt and the pasta and cook. When done, drain the water and keep under cold running water for about 30-40 seconds. Keep aside.
2-In a pan, add olive oil. Add the finely chopped onion and fry till it turns soft. Add the finely chopped spinach and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Now add the sausages and cook for a minute or two. Keep aside.
3-Take a pan and add the butter to make the white sauce. Let the butter melt. Now add the chopped garlic and fry till the aroma comes. Add the all purpose flour (maida) and fry for a minute. Add the milk and mix well, continuously stirring to avoid any lumps and have a smooth white sauce. At this stage I like to add the pepper powder, paprika and basil. Mix well. Add in the spinach and sausage mixture and mix well. Add salt to taste and mix. Take off from the gas stove and add the whipping cream. Mix well.
4-Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an oven proof dish and put in the boiled pasta, next comes the white sauce, spinach and sausage mixture. Top it with grated cheese. Bake it for approximately 15 minutes till the cheese melts completely and you have a nice cheesy layer on top. Serve hot (make sure to take out right from the bottom to get all the three layers).