Heat four cups of water, bring it to boil, add one tablespoon of oil and pasta. Boil till it is nearly done.
Do not overcook pasta. Drain and fresh under cold water.
Peel, wash and chop onion and garlic.
String and wash French beans. Wash zucchini and peel and wash carrots. Cut all these into diamond shapes. Wash and break broccoli into florets. Clean and trim spinach. Boil seven to eight cups of water and blanch French beans, zucchini, broccoli, spinach and carrots one by one. Puree blanched spinach.
Heat one tablespoon of butter and lightly saute refined flour. Gradually add one cup milk and stir continuously so that no lumps remain. Add nutmeg, some cheese, salt and pepper powder. This is mornay sauce.
Heat another tablespoon of butter in a pan, add garlic and saute till golden brown. Add onion and saute till golden brown.
Add beans, broccoli, zucchini and salt and saute well.
Add half of the mornay sauce, one fourth cup of milk and mix well.
Add spinach puree and half of the freshly crushed peppercorns and mix well.
Dissolve saffron in remaining one fourth cup of milk.
In another pan, heat remaining butter and saute carrots. Add boiled pasta, remaining mornay sauce, saffron milk and mix well. Add salt. Cook for sometime and add remaining freshly crushed peppercorns.
Preheat oven to 225o C.
Pour green vegetable mixture into an oven proof dish.
Spread half of the grated cheese on the green vegetable mixture and then pour the carrots-pasta mixture over it. Again spread a layer of remaining grated cheese and bake for five to ten minutes in a preheated oven at 225o C till cheese melts and turns golden. |
