Béchamel sauce (basic recipe)
Sauce «Béchamel» (béchamel) – is a basic sauce based on butter, flour and milk. Béchamel is used as a sauce in many European dishes, as well as a base for various other sauces. Béchamel has a lot of variations - mushroom béchamel, béchamel with cream, béchamel with yogurt, mustard béchamel, etc. Béchamel is used for gratin, souffles, stuffing, and of course, you can't make lasagna without it.
Compound:
- butter - 50 gr.
- flour - 50 gr.
- milk - 500 ml
- nutmeg - pinch
- salt, pepper - to taste
Preparation of Béchamel sauce:
In a saucepan or skillet over medium heat, melt the butter.
Stir in the flour, making sure there are no lumps.
Pour in all of the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk, and bring the mixture to a boil.
Season with salt, turn down the heat, cover and simmer at a bubbling boil, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes.
The flavor of the sauce should not taste like flour.
Remove the béchamel from the heat, salt, pepper and add the nutmeg.
If the sauce is too thick, add a little more water, if it is too runny, return it to the fire, add another piece of butter and the same amount of flour and cook the sauce to the desired consistency.
The consistency of béchamel will be thicker if you replace half the milk with the same amount of heavy cream, and lighter if you take half the milk and half the water.
Bon appetit!
