Pasta and cheese sauce is a comfort food combination.
Creamy, cheesy sauces are not just for macaroni pasta. Vary the cheeses and other ingredients in the sauce, and you create several difference pasta and cheese combinations. Change up your routine with a difference cheese sauce and pasta combination for every night of a five-day work week.
Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Bright yellow cheese sauce is associated with macaroni pasta. Instead of using neon orange powdered cheese sauce, make your own homemade cheddar sauce. Use sharp cheddar and 1/2 tsp. of dry mustard for extra zip. Prepare a basic white cream sauce, thickened with a flour and butter roux. Stir in shredded cheddar cheese until it melts. Toss the sauce with macaroni, seashell or corkscrew pasta. Optionally bake the covered pasta with a breadcrumb topping for a crunchy texture.
Alfredo Sauce
Match a creamy Alfredo sauce with long, wide fettuccine noodles for a filling meal. Warm heavy cream and butter and mix in Parmesan cheese. Toss this simple sauce with cooked fettuccine pasta and additional Parmesan cheese for topping. The freshly ground pepper over the top of the dish adds color and flavor to the pale, yet flavorful pasta.
Four Cheese Sauce
To satisfy those with a strong taste for cheese, make a four cheese pasta sauce to serve tossed with penne pasta. A recipe from The Times Online combines mascarpone, buffalo-milk mozzarella, Gorgonzola and Parmesan cheese together. After slowly melting these cheeses together, a sauce forms and is served over the cooked penne. Adapt this recipe using cheeses you have readily available. To create a similar consistency, use a creamy, fresh cheese, a semi-firm cheese, a firm cheese and an extra hard grating cheese.
Tomato Cheese Sauce
Turn any tomato sauce into a cheesy topping for any pasta. Warm the tomato sauce on the stove until it is heated through. Remove the sauce from the heat and add ricotta cheese in half the volume of the sauce. For instance, if you have 2 cups of tomato sauce, add 1 cup of ricotta cheese. Adjust the amount based on your personal preference and serve the sauce with spaghetti, penne or corkscrew pasta.
Tags: sauce with, cheese sauce, Cheese Sauce, Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, corkscrew pasta