Penne with Mushroom Cheese Sauce

My husband has eaten many varieties of Asian food, especially Indonesian food. However, he sometimes misses his food which means a western style food. He was begging me couple times to cook for him :D. I finally did his request. Since he is a big fan of pasta, I decided to cook penne.

In this recipe, I used whole wheat penne. You don't have to use whole wheat penne as I did, just use your favorite penne.


This recipe is modified from teh Lina's recipe, "Kentang Panggang Brokoli Saus Keju", literally translated Broccoli and Baked Potatoes with Cheese Sauce. In her recipe, she used baked potatoes instead of pasta and also used combination cheddar and parmesan cheese instead of processed smoked Gruyere cheese.

Gruy�re is a hard yellow cheese made from cow's milk, named after the town Gruy�res in Switzerland. Gruy�re is generally known as one of the finest cheeses for baking, having a distinctive but not overpowering taste.

I guessed many people know how to cook al-dente pasta. Al-dente is a fancy term for pasta that is fully cooked, but not overly soft. This is an Italian phrase for to the tooth, which comes from testing the consistensy of pasta with your teeth. According to National Pasta Association, here they are step by step to get perfectly pasta:

• Boil 4 to 6 quarts of water for one pound of dry pasta. (You can divide this recipe depending on how much pasta you are cooking.)
• Add the pasta with a stir and return the water to a boil.
• Stir the pasta occasionally during cooking.
• Follow the package directions for cooking times. If the pasta is to be used as part of a dish that requires further cooking, undercook the pasta by 1/3 of the cooking time specified on the package.
• Taste the pasta to determine if it is done. Perfectly cooked pasta should be "al dente," or firm to the bite, yet cooked through.
• Drain pasta immediately and follow the rest of the recipe.

Ingredients:
50 g whole wheat penne, cook until al-dente, drain and transfer onto a serving plate

Mushroom Cheese Sauce
200 g fresh sliced mushroom
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
5 tsp flour
350 ml water
50 ml whipped cream
50 g processed smoked Gruyere cheese
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
salt as desired
dried crushed chili for sprinkle (optional)




Directions:
1. In a sauce pan, melt butter over mdium-high heat, add onion and cook until wiltedl

2. Add flour, stir evenly while pouring milk little by little

3. Add mushroom and reduce the heat at low-medium heat. Stir until thickened. Add whipped cream, cheese, mustard, black pepper and salt; stir evenly.

4. Pour mushroom cheese sauce over cooked penne and sprinkle with dried crushed chili.