This white sauce pasta is an easy weeknight meal that’s ready under 30 minutes. You will love this rich, creamy & saucy pasta, perfectly seasoned with Italian herbs!! It is vegetarian and we love to include veggies but you may omit and make it plain to serve with roasted veggies or meat.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Total time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: world
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100 grams) pasta ((penne or macaroni))
- 4 cups water (to boil pasta)
- 1½ cup milk ((full fat or plant milk, refer notes))
- 1½ tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter (+ ½ tablespoon to sauté veggies)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper ((crushed or ground, adjust to taste))
- 2 large garlic cloves ((minced, optional, use 1 tsp to tbsp as per your preference))
- ½ teaspoon oregano ((or dried mix Italian herbs))
- salt (as needed)
- ½ teaspoon red chilli flakes ((optional, adjust to taste))
- ¼ cup heavy cream ((optional, or 3 tablespoons parmesan, cream cheese, mozzarella or cheddar))
- ¼ cup carrots ((fine chopped))
- ¼ cup corn kernels
- ¼ cup broccoli or green peas
- ¼ cup bell peppers ((fine chopped))
Method
- Boil Pasta: Bring water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add salt and pasta. Cook till al dente on a medium high flame. Read instructions on package for timings.
- Drain Pasta: Reserve ¼ cup pasta stock and drain the pasta to a colander. Cover and keep aside.
- Saute Veggies: Pour ½ tbsp butter to a pan and saute vegetables until slightly tender yet crunchy, for 5 to 6 mins. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Make the sauce: Melt 2 tablespoons butter on a medium heat and fry garlic for 30 to 40 seconds. Stir in all-purpose flour and saute well until the flour loses the raw smell, for about a minute.
- Turn off the heat/stove and slowly whisk in ½ cup milk into the roux. Keep whisking till it looks creamy & uniform to prevent forming lumps.
- Pour the rest of the milk and whisk/stir well. Turn on the stove, cook on a medium-low stirring often, scraping the sides, until the white sauce becomes thick.
- Stir in the heavy cream or cheese. The white sauce is done perfectly when it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Alternately you can draw a finger/line through the coated spoon. The sauce should wipe clean and leave a space, meaning it is thick enough.
- Stir in the vegetables, cooked pasta, pepper, oregano (or mixed Italian herbs) and chili flakes. If the sauce looks too thick (as it cools down), add 2 tbsps of the reserved stock so the sauce loosens a bit.
- Garnish white sauce pasta with red chilli flakes and crushed black pepper. Serve it hot or warm as the sauce thickens more when it cools down.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.