Potato Pasta
Winter time is pasta time and potato time.
Why not combine the two?
This hearty dish combines wide egg noodle pasta with a thick, rich, silky yam sauce.
Ingredients
- 16 oz cubed yams
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1/4 cup chopped celery (about 1 stalk)
- 3 to 4 sage leaves chopped fine (or 1/4 teaspoon dry)
- 1/2 cup chopped basil
- 3 to 4 chopped garlic cloves
- 8 oz wide egg noodles (uncooked)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups 1% milk
- Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper flake (all to taste)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Equipment
- A sauce pan
- A sauté pan
- A whisk
- A pot for pasta
- A pot for cooking yams
- A blender or food processor
Begin by bringing the yams to a boil in cold, salted water.
As the yams cook, sauté onions, celery, sage, and garlic in olive oil. When onions are translucent, remove from heat.
Cook yams until tender. When fork-tender, drain yams and toss with onion and celery mixture.
Begin cooking the noodles in boiling salted water. While the noodles cook, build the sauce.
In a sauce pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. When the butter has completely melted, add 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Whisk until flour and butter come together into a roux. Cook for about 5 minutes over medium high heat, until the roux just begins to turn brown. The roux should smell slightly nutty.
Add 2 cups of milk to the roux and bring to a low boil. Add salt to taste. After this mixture starts to boil, whisk in 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese.
Once this white sauce has thickened, lower the heat to a simmer. Working in small batches, blend together potatoes, onions, and celery, white sauce, and 1/4 cup of basil (retain half of the basil for garnish). Sauce should be blended until smooth.
Return blended sauce to the sauce pan on very low heat. Whisk in salt, pepper, and red pepper flake to taste.
When the noodles have finished cooking, drain and toss with the yam sauce. Serve garnished with remaining chopped basil.