Vegetarian Delights: Pasta with Vegetables in Creamy Cheese Sauce

June 3, 2015

This would be a great dish for my mom since she LOVES saucy sauces, especially white creamy ones with lots of butter and fat. Every times we go to an Italian restaurant, she needs to have the Alfredo sauce. This is not an Alfredo sauce, but man o man is it delicious and it's very low in fat!

Pasta with Vegetables in Creamy Cheese Sauce

GTLF: Vegetables p. 72

Serves 4, working time 30 min., total time 45 min.

2 tsp olive oil

 6 scallions, thinly sliced

2 red bell peppers, diced

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets (about 6 C)

3 tablespoons flour

3 C low fat (1%) milk

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

8 oz. rotini pasta

1/2 C shredded medium or sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese

1. In a large non stick skillet, heat the oil until hot but not smoking over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook, stirring frequently, until the scallions are tender, about 4 min. Stir in the bell peppers and cauliflower and cook, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is lightly browned, about 5 min.

2. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the vegetables are well coated, about 1 min. Gradually stir in the milk. Stir in the salt, black pepper, and cayenne, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened and the vegetables are tender, about 5 min. longer.

3. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until just tender. Drain well. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss well to coat. Stir in the Cheddar and Parmesan and cook until the cheese is just melted, about 1 min. longer. Divide the pasta mixture among 4 shallow bowls and serve.

Nutritonal  Information: 11 g fat, 451 calories, 5.1 g sat fat, 67 g carbohydrate , 22 g protein, 24 mg cholesterol, 807 mg sodium.

Tips:

1. GTLF never makes a suggestion for whole grain pastas or quinoa or things like that, I suspect because those things weren't popular when the books were published... truthfully I only just started hearing about them a few years ago.... Since the Obama recipe suggested whole wheat pasta a while ago, I decided to use them in this recipe. It was lovely... although they do take some getting used to.