vegetable pasta bake

[mollykins]

i tried making a vegetable pasta bake but the sauce didn't turn out how it should.

This is what i did.

boil fusilli and quickly fry the vegetables (tomatoes, onion, brocolli, mushrooms)

place drained pasta into a dish

add a little stock and tomato puree to veg.

add grated low fat cheese and stirred in until melted

mixed with pasta and baked for about 20 minutes.

But the sauce was really watery, what can i do to make a nice, thick tomatoey cheesey sauce?

[funnygirl]

I would not have added any liquid at all to the dish. As the veg can produce more water.

I normally mix my cooked pasta and veg together dry mixing in cheese sauce or a tomata sauce and topped off with more cheese.

[poodicat]

You havent made a sauce you have just cooked veg in stock and tomatoes are notorious for making even more liquid

[Old_Geezer]

No expert, but I thik one adds flour / cornflour to thicken sauces up. Maybe opting for low fat cheese meant less binding of ingredients too ?

[mollykins]

I thought it would make it to dry, plus the tomatoes were fresh, not tinned so i thought i should compensate a little.

I had the right amount, just not thick enough.

[merciasounds]

Either Don't cook the pasta - it's hard to tell you how much stock to put in doing it your way, or i cook the veg lightly, cook and drain the pasta well, make a roux based sauce, flour fat and perhaps milk, add herbs/garlic/cheese so it's quite thick, add pasta and veg, stir and sprinkle with a crushed packet of plain crisps mixed with some breadcrumbs and grated cheese for a lovely crispy top

[ummmm]

Try skipping the stock and tomato puree and replace with tinned tomatoes.

Or...if you do it your way it needs to be cooked longer to reduce the sauce a bit then add the cheese and pasta.

[mollykins]

It will be hard to judge the amount of cornflour to put in if it cooks for a further 20 minutes, i'd probably have to try cooking it a lot.

[mollykins]

ahh good idea umm i jsut didn't want to over cook the veg but another couple of minutes wouldnt make much difference to 20 minutes more in the oven.

[poodicat]

As funnygirl has said make a cheese sauce,pre cook your pasta and cook veg until nearly cooked,mix through put in dish covered in cheese and breadceumbs,you could put some sliced tomatoes on top,bake in hot oven till top browned!

[pastafreak]

As others have said...you need to make a roux, and make a proper cream sauce - and add your cheese to that. Also-use full fat cheese. The way you did it,the fat free cheese broke down....and you ended up with a watery sauce.

This should help you with the basics-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A515332

[pastafreak]

Sorry...forgot to mention your other option. Make a tomato sauce-stir that into your pasta and veggies. Top with grated cheese,and bake.