White sauce pasta was the first thing I ever ‘cooked’, if we are not taking into account, chai, Maggi and omelette. In Delhi, it does not even matter if a café is inherently ‘Italian’, the Pasta Alfredo is a common fixture on the menu of most of these cafes. And this is how, I got obsessed with Pasta Alfredo, or the White Sauce Pasta. As you must have deduced by now, white sauce pasta is simply pasta, that is tossed in a creamy white sauce usually made with flour, milk and butter. It is one of the most beloved pasta sauces in the whole wide world, and while it seems very simple on paper, there are many ways in which you can wreck this too. For instance, stirring it over and over and still ending up with 10 odd lumps.
They say, practice makes one perfect, and it is indeed true when it comes to making sauce but there are countless tips and tricks that could help save your pasta from being an utter embarrassment. Here are a few tips I swear by.
Source: Shutterstock- White sauce is all about the balance of ingredients, you have to be mindful of the amount of flour, milk, butter and everything to get the perfect consistency.
- Bear in mind that you are not making Asian food, so most of the cooking would take place on low flame. When you heat the sauce pan, turn the flame to low and then add butter. The smell and taste of burnt butter can prove detrimental to your pasta experience.
- Add flour only when the butter melts or starts to bubble.
- Now starts the most crucial task. Take a wired whisk and start stirring the flour as soon as you add it, do not wait for it to add lumps with the butter. For flour to cook evenly, you need to keep stirring consistently.
- When the flour is bubbling up, you can stop with the continuous stirring. At this point, it should also be aromatic, saute until the sauce changes colour to pale golden. Do not brown it.
- Add milk on low flame only. The temperature of milk should also be cold, if you add hot milk, you are inviting lumps.
- Simmer the sauce until it is nice and thick, touch a spoon, if it coats the back side of the spoon, then your sauce is done. Add boiled pasta, mixed herbs and cook until the pasta is nicely coated.
- If you want, it to be cheesy, add grated cheese after milk and mix well. You have to keep mixing the sauce, but at the same time also realise that the sauce will thicken with time, so do not over-stir and make the sauce too thick at the first go.
Pro tip: If you find your sauce to be too lumpy, even after addition of milk. Switch off the flame, let the sauce cool down. Add the sauce to a blender, add water if required and run it through the blender and then add it back to the pan. Remember, this is only and SOS. If you save lumps from forming at the beginning, you would save a lot of time too.
Here is an easy-peasy recipe for how to make white sauce pasta at home.
