Sauce · French
Béchamel sauce
The smooth white sauce behind lasagna and moussaka, with a cheese sauce variation. About 500ml.
Béchamel is the smooth white sauce made from milk, butter and flour. It is what goes between the layers of lasagna and moussaka, and with cheese stirred in it becomes the cheese sauce for mac and cheese. Warm milk and patient whisking are the whole secret.
Ingredients
- 500 ml whole milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 40 g butter
- 40 g plain flour
- nutmeg, a pinch, freshly grated
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 100 g cheddar, mature, grated, only for a cheese sauce (optional)
Method
- Warm the milk with the bay leaf in a small pan over a medium-low heat until it steams and tiny bubbles form around the edge, 4 to 6 minutes. Warm milk blends into the flour and butter without lumps. Start the next step as it begins to steam.
- When the milk starts to steam, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium-low heat, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring all the time, until it bubbles and smells like biscuits but is still pale, 1 to 2 minutes. Cooking the flour takes away its raw taste.
- Lift the bay leaf out of the milk. Take the saucepan off the heat and whisk in about a third of the milk until you have a smooth, thick paste. Whisk in the rest a ladleful at a time, keeping it smooth before each addition.
- Return the pan to a medium-low heat and whisk until the sauce starts to bubble gently. Cook, stirring often, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and no longer tastes of flour, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. For a cheese sauce (if using the cheddar), take the pan off the heat and stir in the cheese until melted, so the sauce stays smooth and glossy.
- Goes best layered in our Classic lasagna or Moussaka. The cheese version is the sauce for Mac and cheese, or for cauliflower or broccoli cheese, and either one is good over poached white fish. Press cling film onto the surface so no skin forms; it keeps for 3 days in the fridge.
Tips
- Add the milk gradually and whisk it smooth each time. That is how a white sauce stays free of lumps.
- If it does go lumpy, whisk hard off the heat or push it through a sieve.
- Cheese goes in off the heat; boiled cheese turns grainy and stringy.
Common questions
How do I make béchamel without lumps?
Use warm milk, add it gradually off the heat and whisk each addition smooth before adding more. If lumps appear, whisk hard or push the sauce through a sieve.
How thick should béchamel be for lasagna?
Thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but still pourable. It thickens further as the lasagna bakes.