Bechamel - Basic White Sauce

kiwidutch's Note:

Formula for making a thin, medium and thick white sauce.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6-8

Yield: 2.0 cups

• 2 cups milk
• 1 slice onion , large
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon peppercorn
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• salt
• white pepper

Directions:

1. Scald the milk with the onion, bay leaf and peppercorns.
2. Cover and let infuse off heat for 10-15 minutes.
3. In a heavy based saucepan, melt butter, whisk in flour and cook, stirring, until the flour is foaming but not browned- about 1 minute.
4. Off heat, strain in the hot milk.
5. Whisk well, then bring to a boil, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens.
6. season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and leave to simmer slowly for 1-2 minutes.
7. NOTE: This make what is called a "MEDIUM" Bechamel.
8. For a "THIN" Bechamel use 2 tbs. butter and 2 tbs. flour.
9. For a "THICK" Bechamel use 4 tbs. butter and 4 tbs. flour.

Reviews

[Shannon Holmes]

Delicious! I love the infusion of onions and bay leaf (I didn't use peppercorns because I didn't have them) and I added one garlic clove to the infusion. Great flavor. I skipped the nutmeg and I used this sauce on a pizza and I am going to make this again to serve on pasta. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

[Cathy-O]

thanks for the proportions. I used the recipe to make 4.5 cups of condensed mushroom soup for a broccoli bake. I found that 8 tbls of flour and 8 of butter were perfect with one cup of sauteed mushrooms. I will always used this quantity for my 3.2L baking dish with. Before it was guess work and I was always nervous, but now I am confident of my sauce being thick enough and the right quantity to cover the veggies. Thanks a lot.

[DanPatch]

Great sauce! Made a Gluten-Free version using King Arthur's flour. Turned out delicious with excellent consistency.