I agree — when it comes to pasta, sometimes Japanese chefs can beat Italian, like this white sauce spaghetti which I’d never find in Italy. Fragrant, delicious and meat-free.
Key of White Sauce Spaghetti
I always stock carrots, onions and celery in my fridge to cook soup, pasta or curry. With just one or two more different ingredients, pasta can come in handy and be versatile, especially when you want to eat more vegetables and less meat.
For example, this time, cod and aubergine are used, and milk is used instead of cream. It is easy to make pasta that looks good and tastes good.
This recipe is learned from a great pasta cookbook written by a Japanese chef. Last time I tried his Aubergine Meat Sauce Rigatoni, and it was utterly delicious.
So today I tried another recipe, also used soffritto (onion, carrot and celery) as a base, and these aromatics are the key to this pasta. Most of the time I whiz them in a blender — press a button, a few seconds, save so much time and effort. If you like vegetarian pasta, I recommend you to try Celery Carrot Mushroom Fettuccine in White Sauce, which is meat-free and easily veganised.
Cooking Notes
Aubergine : in the referred recipe, the aubergine is peeled to achieve a smooth texture. I was lazy and didn’t want food waste, so I kept the skin on.
Cod fish: fish shrinks after cooked. If you want to enjoy some bites, then better to cut the fish in bigger pieces.
Cod and Aubergine Spaghetti in White Sauce Recipe
No worry that you don’t have heavy cream because the sauce is mainly rely on milk and cheese. Just give time to the soffritto to coax out all the aromatics, and you’ll have a delicious and healthy pasta awaits you!
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 160 g spaghetti
- 1 (150 g) frozen cod fillet, thawed
- ½ (150 g) aubergine, cut into 7mm thickness
- ¼ (30 g) onion
- ⅓ (30 g) celery
- ¼ (30 g) carrot
- 130 ml full fat milk
- 20 ml white wine
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 30 g grated Parmasen cheese
- fresh parsley, chopped
How to Make
- Whiz the onion, carrot and celery in a blender. Or finely dice them.
- Pat dry the cod fillet and cut into 2 cm pieces and season with a pinch of salt.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti.
- Warm 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat, sauté the onion, celery and carrot for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic to cook until lightly coloured. Then add the cod fish to cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Push the soffritto and cod to a side, add 1 tbsp of olive oil into the pan and stir in the aubergine. Season with ⅓ tsp salt and cook until soften. Pour over the white wine and bring to a simmer. Also pouring in the milk and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Return the cooked spaghetti to the pan, add approx. 4-5 tbsp pasta cooking water, ¼ tsp salt and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Give them a vigorous and quick stir to emulsify the sauce. Have a taste and adjust. Garnish with parsley before serving.
