Pasta with Bechamel Sauce

Anjalie loves pasta dishes, esp., pasta well done with white sauce. You can add your child's favourite cheese to this sauce to make it into a cheese sauce. The recipe is very flexible, so feel free to add veggies or meat to the dish as well. Served with a side salad and adding vegetables/cooked chicken breasts can turn this simple pasta into a filling dinner/lunch.

You will need:
1 cup pasta (various shapes keeps things interesting)
2 cups of whole milk
1 tbsp All purpose/plain flour
2 tbsp butter
2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano/ Italian seasoning
favorite vegetables like carrots, peas, broccoli etc chopped finely and cooked - 1 cup (optional; see below)
salt and black pepper to taste
ground chilli flakes to taste (optional)



Cook pasta according to instructions in the pack. Melt butter in a sauce pan in low-medium heat and add garlic, all purpose flour and mix well. Keep the flame low-medium and cook until the flour smells toasted (3-5 mins). Add milk and mix well using a wire whisk or fork to avoid lumps. Add salt, pepper, chilli flakes and spices. Cook until it reaches sauce-like consistency (semi thick and smooth; should coat the back of a spoon when dipped). Add boiled pasta, mix well and serve warm with garlic bread and salad

You can add sauted vegetables to pasta. Just toss vegetables and butter in a pan. Season and cook and add to the dish. You can add grated cheese to the sauce and make it into pasta with cheese sauce. You can place the dish in an oven proof dish, top it with cheese and broil it in the oven until the cheese is light brown in colour. You can add meat of your choice to the dish as well. You can also make layers of vegetable, pasta and cheese and bake the dish.