Cheesy Pasta with Cheese Chilly Toast

Whenever my parents asked me to cook dinner, it would invariably be pasta… so much that it become the other way round and so whenever my parents were in the mood of having some pasta, they’d ask me to cook them dinner.

Pasta is the ultimate comfort food for me. I think it is one of the easiest dishes to prepare and also one of the most versatile. There are a lot of variations that one can do with pasta. I’ll start with my all time favourite – Pasta in white sauce, which I prefer to call Cheesy Pasta. The trick here is the white sauce. Preparing the white sauce is pretty easy and it comes handy in a lot of dishes (you’ll see me using it in a lot of recipes).

Almost always my pasta is accompanied by a cheese chilly toast which goes really well with the mildly herby taste of cheesy pasta.

Cheesy Pasta:

Ingredients

1 cup Pasta (preferably penne)

500 ml Milk

2-3 tsp All purpose flour

1 tbsp Butter

1/3 tsp Sugar

½ cup Cheese

Pepper

Salt

Oregano

Chilli Flakes

Mixed Herbs

Method:

1.    Boil some water in a pan, add about a tsp of salt. Once the water comes to a boil pour in the pasta and let it boil till about 10 minutes or till it is perfectly cooked. (Keep checking so that it doesn’t under or over cook). Once cooked drain all the water, pour a tbsp of oil (any oil would do) mix it well and put it aside.

2.    For the white sauce: mildly heat up a thick–bottomed pan, add the butter and let it melt. Once the butter is melted add flour to it and whisk it well (do not let the flour brown).

3.    Once the butter and flour is whisked well and forms into a smooth thick paste, start to add the milk slowly (preferably your milk should be warm). Stir the milk and the mixture nicely till no lumps remain.

4.    Once the milk is added whisk the mixture and dissolve all the lumps that may get formed. Once the sauce is smooth, let it simmer on medium heat to thicken to your desired consistency. Next add some salt to taste, some pepper to taste as well, about 1/3 tsp sugar, throw in some oregano, mixed herbs and chilli flakes as per your taste and lastly add some grated cheese (preferably cheddar) to get that nice herby and cheesy flavour. Feel free to add or eliminate the cheese, herbs and oregano etc as per your taste buds.

5.    Once the mixture thickens, turn off the stove, add the boiled pasta to it, mix it well and serve. You can garnish it with some grated cheese and herbs on the top.

Tips:

I prefer to use and electric whisk for smoothening the sauce and removing lumps. A hand whisk will also do the trick but the electric one makes the job much easier.

Cheese Chilly Toast:

Ingredients:

1-1  ½ cup grated cheese (cheddar)

½ cup white sauce

2-3 green chillies, finally chopped

Salt

Pepper

Method

1.    Heat the white sauce and throw in the grated cheese, finally chopped green chillies, some salt and pepper to taste, turn off the stove once the cheese has melted well and the mixture is smooth and thick.

2.    Your cheese chilly spread is ready, spread it on your toast or bun and rellish.