Three cheese pasta

Ingredients

50g butter
¼ cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
4 cups milk
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
4 (80g) Swiss cheese slices
1 cup mozzarella, grated
250g pasta, slightly undercooked

Method

Heat butter in a pan over a low heat and sprinkle the flour over the butter. Whisk for a minute until the flour cooks but does not brown.

Add the salt and then slowly whisk in the milk, ½ cup at a time. Add more milk when the previous measure becomes incorporated until you have a smooth white sauce.

Whisk in the three cheeses and mix well until they are melted and combined in the sauce. Add the pasta to the pan and stir to heat and coat well.

Serve with crunchy garlic bread.

Notes:

I used fairly mild cheeses in this sauce but you can add your favourite stronger flavoured cheese such as blue vein cheese and Emmenthal.
Whisking and incorporating the milk is a very important step to this sauce, otherwise it may become lumpy and unappetising. The key to a happy white sauce is to keep whisking!
You can turn this into a pasta bake by pouring it into an oven dish and sprinkling the top with ½ cup dried breadcrumbs and some extra grated cheese. Bake for 20 minutes to melt the cheese and heat the pasta.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.