I’ve been getting a lot of mails asking for pasta recipes. Here’s a recipe which I tried recently. Got the outline of the recipe from my friend, Divya. She sent me the recipe 2 years ago! Yeah.. I know, I really need to work on my turn around time.
Anyways, coming back to the recipe, it’s a wholesome dish, quite filling on it’s own. It would be great if you pair it with some garlic bread and a light salad on the side. It’s also a good brunch option.
Here you go with the step by step pictures…
Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion. When it becomes soft (no need to become brown), add minced garlic and capsicum. Cook till the capsicum becomes soft…
Add cleaned prawns, chopped celery, pepper and salt. Mix well, when prawns start changing colour add spring onion and cook till the prawns become tender…
Melt butter in a pan and add the flour. Fry it for 4-5 mins, till the raw smell of the flour goes and it starts changing colour. Add milk gradually and stir. Season the white sauce with salt and pepper. Cook till the sauce becomes thick and has a smooth consistency. Make sure there are no lumps in the sauce…
Generously grease a baking dish with butter. I used a 9 inch square baking dish. Spread the cooked pasta as the first layer…
Top it with cooked prawns. Drizzle the white sauce on top of it. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and grated cheese as the final layer. Bake the dish in the pre heated oven for 15 – 20 mins. Serve hot with some bread and salad on the side…
- Pasta – 3 cups (I used Penne)
- Prawns – 250 gms, measured after cleaning
- Onion – 1 medium – big, chopped
- Minced garlic – 1.5 tsp
- Capsicum – 1 small, cubed
- Chopped celery – 1 tbsp
- Chopped spring onion – ½ cup
- Pepper powder – 1.5 tsp
- Butter – 2 tbsp
- Plain flour (maida) – 2 tbsp
- Milk – 1.5 – 2 cups
- Breadcrumbs – 2 tbsp
- Grated cheese – 2 tbsp (I used Mozarella)
- Salt
- Oil – I used Olive oil
- Cook pasta as per package instructions and keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion. When it becomes soft (no need to become brown), add minced garlic and capsicum. Cook till the capsicum becomes soft. Add cleaned prawns, chopped celery, pepper and salt. Mix well, when prawns start changing colour add spring onion and cook till the prawns become tender.
- Melt butter in a pan and add the flour. Fry it for 4-5 mins, till the raw smell of the flour goes and it starts changing colour. Add milk gradually and stir. Season the white sauce with salt and pepper. Cook till the sauce becomes thick and has a smooth consistency. Make sure there are no lumps in the sauce.
- Generously grease a baking dish with butter. I used a 9 inch square baking dish.
- Spread the cooked pasta as the first layer. Top it with cooked prawns. Drizzle the white sauce on top of it. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and grated cheese as the final layer.
- Preheat the oven @ 180 C, 10 mins before baking. Bake the dish in the pre heated oven for 15 – 20 mins. Serve hot with some bread and salad on the side.
For veggie option, you can use mushrooms or broccoli instead of prawns. You can use mushrooms along with prawns also. You can also use chicken instead of prawns. It’s a very flexible recipe, you can mix and match it with the ingredients you like.
You can make the different components earlier and the final assembling just before serving the dish.
