A white sauce made with butter, flour, milk, herbs and other flavorings.
Origin: French
Béchamel sauce is one of the “mother sauces” of French cuisine. This sauce is traditionally made from a white roux and milk, with ground nutmeg added to enhance the flavor.
Wikipedia
Ultra-creamy béchamel sauce is like a magic touch for any meal it goes on. It’s a simple way to make pasta, meat, and vegetables taste even more delicious. You can learn how to make this special white sauce from France right in your own kitchen.
How to Make Béchamel
First, melt some butter in a saucepan. Then, whisk in flour until it becomes a smooth mixture. Keep cooking it until it turns a light golden color. Now, increase the heat and slowly pour in the milk while whisking. After that, let the sauce gently simmer for about 10-20 minutes. To make it taste even better, add some salt and a little bit of nutmeg. These spices give it a nice smell and a savory flavor.
Other Sauce Made from Béchamel
There are different sauces you can make using béchamel as a base: ·
Mornay Sauce is a special béchamel sauce that includes Parmesan and Gruyere cheese. It tastes amazing with steamed vegetables, seafood, and eggs. ·
Cream Sauce is made by mixing béchamel with heavy cream after it’s cooked. You can add fresh herbs to this sauce and use it to top your pasta for a delicious meal.
Soubise Sauce is a flavorful blend of cooked and pureed onions mixed with béchamel. To give it a nice color and a hint of sourness, you can add a little bit of tomato puree.
This recipe makes a small batch of béchamel, a versatile sauce that can be used to make delicious cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese, queso dip, or to top dishes like lasagna or moussaka. When I was a child, my mother would also serve it over steamed vegetables like cauliflower or broccoli, and we absolutely loved it! Béchamel is a wonderful sauce that adds a creamy and flavorful touch to many dishes. The following recipe makes about 1 cup of sauce.
Béchamel
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1¼ cups milk, heated (you can simply microwave the milk in a Pyrex measuring cup)
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown — about 2 minutes. Add the milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Add salt, and pepper to taste plus a pinch of nutmeg, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
Pro Tip:
To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.
To turn your white sauce into cheese sauce, stir in ½ cup grated Cheddar, or Pepper Jack, or Parmesan cheese during the last 2 minutes of cooking, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper.