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May 29, 2008

Spaghetti in Bechamel Sauce

I love pasta in any form and shape and can eat it any number of times. I have some folks at work who believe that eating pasta is a sign that you are snooty and, hence, look down on rotis and rice. I am sick and tired of explaining to people that I like variety. I am even sicker of explaining to folks that I grew up eating the stuff. Somehow, people are totally unable to believe that my mother made these part of our every day meals. Long before pizza sauces and bases made their appearance in supermarkets, she dished out pizzas from scratch as Monday night dinners. And I don’t count pizza and pasta in my list of junk food. These are full meals and can be as nutritious as you want them to be.


I’ve had some spaghetti lying in the cupboard for months now and somehow never got around to making it. I love spaghetti with tomato sauce and S loves his spaghetti carbonara. In fact, he’d try and order it at every Italian restaurant. I had a lot of milk in the fridge waiting to be used up and dished this out a couple of weeks ago. I loved this dish especially for the colours. (I really wanted to add corn for the yellow, but S didn’t want corn in his spaghetti!)



150g Spaghetti
1 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup, Broccoli, steamed
1/4 cup Mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup, Red Capsicum, sliced
1 tbsp Butter/Olive Oil
1 tbsp Flour
1 cup Milk
1/2 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Basil
1 tsp Chilli flakes
1/2 tsp Garlic Paste
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 slice Low Fat Cheese (optional)

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the capsicum and fry for a minute. Add the garlic paste, parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the mushrooms and fry for about 30 seconds. (Do not fry the mushrooms for too long as the water in them gets released.) Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. If adding cheese, add it at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper. Add the broccoli and cook for a minute.



Boil 2 litres of water with a little salt and 1 tsp oil. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes.

Serve some spaghetti on a plate. Pour the sauce over it. Dig in.

8 comments:

Revathi said...

Picture is not showing. And Picasa is saying it violated it policies ???

FH said...

Pizza and Pasta is not junk at all, they can be very healthy if you balance protein and carb. More veg or meat in the sauce less pasta is a great meal!:)
Love Bechamel sauce in Lasagne, never tried it with Pasta unless it's Alfredo sauce, great idea. Enjoy!:)

Deepa said...

They sound really rude! Kids do this to each other - they are afraid of differences, and try to alienate anyone who's different. It's just immaturity. Enjoy your pasta! --Deepa

Rajitha said...

Men huh!! i want corn..i don't want corn...tho i can't see the pics i am good at picturing recipes...and this looks darn good..

Unknown said...

love the creamy sauce Raaaga

Andhra Flavors said...

good looking creamy pasta

Arundathi said...

always wanted to know how to make bechamel!

Archana Doshi said...

Perfect - I love bechamel. Would love for you to send this recipe to the ONE DISH MEAL EVENT i am hosting. Check the details at the link below
http://www.archanaskitchen.com/2008/uncategorized/monthly-one-dish-event-meals/