Garlic Pasta with Vegetables

Tonight’s dinner plans were changed at the last minute. I was going to make Pasta Alfredo with Vegetables, but my daughter wanted me to make a Garlic Sauce that she can eat.  She used to enjoy “Cheater Garlic Pasta” made with a Knorr’s mix before she had to eliminate gluten from her diet and we had never come up with a substitute. Today, she told me that if I would come up with a Garlic Pasta recipe for her, that she would not object if I contaminated the pasta with vegetables. That deal was just too good to pass up!

I searched through my cookbooks looking for a white sauce recipe to modify and finally found a straight forward recipe in a cookbook that belonged to my Great-Grandmother called Household Science and Arts (published in 1912). When my grandmother gave it to me, she told me my Grannie had used it when she was in finishing school. I love that this cookbook is a link to both of them, but I especially appreciate that my Grannie was a rebel, reworking recipes: Following in my Grannie’s footsteps, I reworked the white sauce recipe to make a Garlic Sauce for my daughter. The recipe just had ratios depending on how thick you wanted the white sauce to be and very basic instructions, but it was enough to work with. I increased the quantities by half, substituted cornstarch for flour, and added onion, garlic, and garlic powder. I know 6 cloves of garlic sounds like a lot, but the sauce was still pretty mild, so I added a half teaspoon of garlic powder to create a little more punch to the sauce.

Cornstarch tips: When substituting cornstarch for flour, use half the amount the recipe calls for (e.g. if a recipe calls for 4 tablespoons of flour, use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch). To make a lump free sauce with cornstarch mix it with some of the liquid called for in the recipe before adding it to the rest of the liquid. If you still have a few lumps, use a whisk or emersion blender to smooth them out.

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta (I use brown rice pasta)
4 cups vegetables
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons cornstarch (or 6 T. flour)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup finely diced onion
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon parsley
~ 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and fresh vegetables and boil for 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and the vegetables are fork tender (if you are using frozen vegetables wait until the last 2 minutes to add to the boiling water).

While the pasta and vegetables are cooking, bring 1 1/4 cups milk and butter to a boil, stirring regularly. Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup milk together, making a smooth paste. Add cornstarch mixture to milk and use whisk to ensure that it is lump free. Add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to milk and boil until thick and bubbly, being careful to stir regularly so the milk is not scorched.

Drain water from pasta and vegetables and quickly rinse with hot water. Place pasta and veggies in a large bowl and top with garlic sauce. Mix thoroughly to coat. Serve immediately.
For more delicious recipes, visit: $5 Dinner Challenge, Hearth and Soul Hop, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tasty Tuesday.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the Real Food Deals Carnival! I will share the sales (and coupons) for real food in my area and I invite you to do the same. Your posts can be on anything related to saving money on real food. Each of us will define real food a little differently and that is fine. We are all working with different budgets and food requirements, but hopefully by working together we can stretch our budget a little farther and include healthier ingredients in our meals!