Oxymorons Rule - light sausage pasta in white sauce

I am facing a bit of a problem with the home page of the blog. The Sidebar has disappeared! It is there on my other blogs as well as when you click on individual posts here. Cry for help on FB and Twitter led to some kind souls pointing out that the Sidebar's been shifted to the bottom. They suggested deleting and re-posting my last post on pulao. That didn't work. So help!!!!!






I embarked on a cooking expedition on Sunday. I made a Bengali pulao from the East of India in the afternoon. The pulao was pure self indulgence. So I made a sausage pasta in white sauce at night for the missus. Pasta is her favourite dish. Unlike my Calcutta nostalgia trip in the afternoon, pasta of course belongs to Italy in Western Europe. The pulao was inspired by mom granny's and mom's cooking. And I had learnt cooking pasta from K. 'Behind every successful dish ... ' as they say.


I have put up white sauce recipes in the past and wasn't planning to post this. Then Scarlett, another pasta lover (what's with women and pasta?) asked me to put up the recipe when she heard about my dinner plans. Dinner turned out to be, ahem, one of the best pastas that I have made so far. So I did decide to put up the recipe.


Light and healthy sausage pasta - recipe

Prep:

Boil 200 g pasta, drain water, set asideDissolve a tablespoon of corn flour in a coffee mug of slim/ skimmed milkFinely chop sausages, garlic, tomato, basil, green chillies

Cook

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a non stick panAdd finely chopped garlic (1 tablespoon) ...stir till they become a darker shade of yellowAdd finely chopped tomatoes and tablespoon of ketchup (this adds a bit of colour and sweetness to the sauce, the mild curdling effect gives the sauce some character)Throw in 250 g finely chopped chicken cocktail sausages once the tomato becomes a bit soft (I use paprika sausages). Sausages are K's favourite cold cut. I prefer bacon. The meat always goes in in the beginning as you want the flavour of the meat to infuse through the dishAdd in 3 slices/ 2 cubes/ 2 tablespoons of slim cheese. Don't bother with expensive cheese as the taste gets lost in the sauce. Regular Amul or Britannia would doStir till the sausage looks a bit grilled, the skin looks a bit crisp and is evenly coated with cheese and ketchup

Add the mug of milk with cornflour. AND half a mug more of plain slim/ skimmed milkWait till the milk sauce begins to boil. Reduce the flame and cover with a lid once the sauce bubbles. Let it thicken for a couple of minutes

Add the boiled pastaAdd a tablespoon of saltStir gently till the sauce coats and wraps around the pasta. Let it stay on the flame for two minutes

Add finely chopped basil (a handful, gives it a nice minty feel), half a tablespoon each of chilly flakes and black pepper powder



Cover with a lid and let it cook for a couple of minutes on a low flameYou are done (the bottle of wine was for the effect. Didn't add it in the sauce)Have it straight from the pan. Remember, Pasta doesn't wait for anyone.

"How 'light'?"

Olive oil not butter, chicken sausage not pork, slim milk and cheese!