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Pasta thermidor
From Cookipedia
Posh macaroni cheese!
This is such a great recipe that it is worth making your own pasta if you have the time. You don't need a special pasta cutter, just roll it out and slash it into strips. However, this will still be good with dried spaghetti or pasta.
Ingredients
Thermidor sauce
- 50 g (2 oz) butter
- 2 tablespoons onion or shallots, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 275 ml (1/2 pint) full cream milk
- 5 tablespoons (60 ml) dry sherry
- 25 g (1 oz) plain flour
- good pinch of salt
- good pinch of paprika powder (not smoked)
- good pinch of mustard powder
- 5 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese
- grind of black pepper
Pasta
- 1 portion of fresh pasta - make it yourself, the recipe is easy.
or
- 200g Dried spaghetti or pasta (100g per person)
Mise en place
- Pre-heat the grill.
Method
pasta
- Add to lightly salted boiling water and boil:
- 3 to 5 minutes (fresh pasta)
- 7-10 minutes (dried spaghetti / thin pasta)
- 10-13 minutes (thicker pasta)
- There is a detailed list of pasta cooking times here.
- Drain well and add a dash of olive oil and mix well to prevent sticking
sauce
- Melt half of the butter in a pan and gently sauté the onions until translucent.
- Add the flour, mix into a roux and then gradually stir in the milk. Whisking will quickly remove any lumps.
- Add the parsley and tarragon.
- Mix in the sherry and spices, season to taste and adjust to your liking.
- Add the remaining butter and half of the cheese. Mix well.
- Mix in the cooked pasta. Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased baking tray.
- Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and brown under the grill.
Variations
Add lots of Crushed garlic with the onions.
Chef's notes
If you are struggling to get hold of fresh tarragon, at a push you could add 1 heaped teaspoon of dried tarragon to a little boiled water, allow it to re-hydrate, drain any liquid and then use, however, fresh is plainly better.
