Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. I bought 4 cups of water to boil by adding one tsp of salt and one tsp of oil. Then added 2 cups of pasta and cooked for 8 minutes.
I reserved ½ cup of pasta water and drained the rest.
Mix the 1 tbsp of APF in the reserved pasta water and set aside.
Clean and chop the mushrooms and spinach.
Shred ¼ cup of white cheddar cheese.
Steps:
Heat a pan or skillet and melt the butter.
Now add the chopped spinach, mushroom, salt, and mixed Italian herbs.
Cook until the spinach wilts and the mushroom is soft and tender.
Now add the pasta water with APF and the cheddar cheese.
Followed by the cooked pasta.
Toss them all together.
Cook until the cheese melts.
Finally, add the olive oil and freshly grated pepper and gently mix once.
That’s it. White sauce pasta is ready.
How I Pack:
Spread the pasta on a plate and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Then transfer it to the tiffin box and wait for two more minutes before putting the lid.
As I used merely a ¼ cup of cheese, it doesn’t harden, but cheddar tastes decent when it is not warm. So far no complaints from vaandu.
Notes
You can include corn and other veggies of your choice. Also, skip spinach or mushroom.
I did not add any onion by my Italian herb mix contains dried onions. If you can’t source it, just add a blend of dried basil and oregano is sufficient or fresh basil leaves will do all the magic.
You can replace pasta water with milk.
Adjust the salt and pepper as per your preference.