Serves 4
While slapping dinner together one night I created this concoction that I found to be crazy good. This is probably one of the most expensive recipes on here, but if the vegetables are bought in season and you stretch out the Fontina cheese it can be affordable. In most areas, the vegetables will be in season between Summer and Fall. With the Fontina Cheese, buy 1/2 lb. (around $5) and divide it into threes. You still get the creaminess of the Fontina for sauce, but now you can make three batches of sauce.
Ingredients:
4 pkg Oriental Ramen Noodles
1 Yellow Squash (fresh)
1 Large Carrot (fresh)
1/2 lb. Green Beans (fresh)
Sauce Ingredients:
1-2 tbs Finely Chopped Anaheim Pepper
1 tbp Vegetable Oil
1 tbp Flour (white or whole wheat)
1/3 cup Milk (preferably whole)
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
1/6 lb. shredded Fontina Cheese
Directions:
Cut up the Yellow Squash and Carrots into rounds. Quarter the yellow squash if the rounds are too large. In a saucepan add water about 1/2″ deep, put in the steamer, and bring water to a boil. Add in yellow squash, carrots and fresh green beans. Turn burner down to med-low, put on lid and steam for 7 minutes.
At the same time, bring to boil water according to ramen noodle instructions for four packages. Follow package instructions for cooking except add in the oriental spice packet while boiling. Drain the Water.
After starting the water for the ramen noodles, heat up a skillet on medium heat for the sauce. After roughly 5 minutes, add in the oil. Let the oil heat up a little then add the flour then wisk together. Once the mixture starts to thicken, dump in the finely chopped Anaheim peppers. Right after, start slowly mixing in the milk, continuing to mix through the whole process. While continuing to mix the sauce, add in the Monterrey Jack Cheese and Fontina. If the sauce seems too thick you can slowly add in more milk.
To dish up, plate the noodles, then top with the steamed vegetables, then drizzle the cheese sauce over both.
Suggestions:
If you want to add meat, diced ham would be a good choice. Just add it to the ramen noodles while cooking to warm it up. I usually buy a half oblong of boneless ham, then slice it in 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces and freeze them. Take one piece thawed and cube up the ham. This process stretches out the meat as well.