Béchamel is a famous sauce with French origins, that has also been a part of the Italian culinary tradition for ages now. It’s also known as salsa madre in Italy (meaning ‘mother sauce’ in English), because so many other sauces use béchamel as the base – like the slightly richer version of mornay sauce. Lasagna and cannelloni simply don’t exist without béchamel – and the same goes for baked pasta and baked veggie pies!
Many people buy it, perhaps because they don’t know that preparing it at home is really very simple. The ingredients and steps are few, however – you only need to follow a few rules.
The ingredients for béchamel sauce
Let's start first of all from the ingredients to make ½ liter of béchamel: 500 ml of milk, 40 grams of butter, 40 grams of flour, and salt and nutmeg to taste.
How to make the perfect béchamel
1. According to the original recipe, the fat part (i.e. butter) and the flour must have equal weights.
2. Use a small pot with fairly high edges. It’s best to use a non-stick pot.
3. Melt the butter over medium heat. If it is not clarified butter, wait for the bubbles to reduce (and for the water to evaporate).
4. The flour should be added all at once and mixed quickly using a hand whisk.
5. Stir until the mixture becomes liquidy without lumps. This is the most important step.
6. Cook the flour for a couple more minutes so it absorbs and takes on the flavor of the fat.
7. The butter and flour mixture is technically called a ‘roux’ in French, which you can also use to thicken other sauces or gravies.
8. To make the béchamel sauce, add milk to the roux. It should be cold and added in one go, whisking quickly.
9. Stir continuously until it reaches a fairly dense consistency. Then lower the heat to minimum and cover for five minutes.
10. At the end of cooking, add a pinch of salt and nutmeg.