pasta cooked twice is too starchy and rubbery, and cooking what
should be a basic one-step recipe in two stages defeats the object
of the exercise for me. That said, you only have to leave the pasta
to stand in a pan of boiling water for as long as it takes to make a
two-minute sauce, which doesn’t really count as cooking, and the
result is another perfect pasta bake in the space of half an hour;
very tasty and easy to make.
As with all pasta bakes you can swap the ingredients around to
suit yourself and, for an even quicker option, make the sauce with
a tin of condensed soup diluted with a pint (500 ml) of milk –
chicken, mushroom or asparagus are all good – and use tinned
vegetables instead of frying onions and mushrooms at the
beginning.
Pasta shapes
2 red onions
Mushrooms
Chorizo sausage
2 oz (50 g) butter or margarine
2tbsp flour
1 pint (500 ml) milk
Grated Cheddar or mozzarella (or a mixture of both)
Black pepper
Oil or butter
Method
1. Warm about 2 oz (50 g) of butter in a large pan, fry the
chopped mushrooms and onions for a few minutes until the
onions are golden, then turn the heat right down.
2. Meanwhile, cut the chorizo sausage into small pieces.
3. Bring a saucepan of slightly salted water to the boil then turn
the heat off, add the pasta to the pan (one or two handfuls per
person), cover with a lid and leave to stand while you make the
quick sauce.
4. Sift 2 tablespoons of flour into the pan with the fried
mushrooms and onions, stir well and cook for about a minute.
5. Gradually pour the milk into the pan, stirring all the time, then
turn the heat up and cook for a couple more minutes until you
have a smooth, fairly thin sauce (whisk any lumps out with a
fork or a small hand whisk). Season the sauce with black
pepper.
6. Drain the pasta and transfer to a large ovenproof dish with the
chorizo. Pour over the sauce and mix everything together
thoroughly.
7. Sprinkle with plenty of grated cheese and bake in the oven on
Gas Mark 4 (180ºC) for 15–20 minutes.
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