White béchamel sauce recipe step by step. Classic Bechamel sauce with nutmeg. Here are the dishes in which béchamel is used

05.08.2021

Bechamel sauce is a classic homemade recipe mainly used for lasagna. Many people know that the classic Bechamel sauce from a simple recipe remains one of the most popular sauces for serving not only with lasagna, but also with various meat dishes, fish, veal, shrimp, squid, potatoes, mantas, vegetable dishes, spaghetti and many others.

If for an ordinary hostess Bechamel is something refined and sublime, then in the world of professional chefs it is a necessary base. The ability to cook this light white sauce is a kind of ticket to the world of haute cuisine. The priority is to learn how to cook it so that you would not be ashamed to serve this exquisite sauce with any well-cooked dish, emphasizing and enhancing its taste. Therefore, if you are serious about expanding your cooking skills, you know where to start.

Bechamel sauce - cooking basics

The base for the sauce is Rublon, which is often called simply "Ru" by culinary experts. It is a mixture of butter and flour, brought to a straw color. Then a liquid component is added to it. In the original recipe, this is cream, but you can use full-fat milk;
Some chefs add broth along with the dairy ingredients. It is not recommended to replace them with fermented milk products, otherwise they will curdle at a high temperature and the sauce will be lumpy;
The most important rule for making a sauce cannot be violated, in which flour and butter are used in the same proportions. The amount of liquid can be added differently, thereby changing the density of the bechamel;
For a light aroma in the sauce, you need to season the milk. In this method, seasonings are added to a cold liquid, then heated at a low temperature, and infused for about 30 minutes. In order not to filter the sauce, herbs with spices must first be wrapped in cheesecloth and boiled milk with it;
Bechamel should have a light creamy shade and a light consistency. You can check it with a spoon. If the mixture slowly drains from it, then the sauce is cooked correctly.

The sauce consists of an oily flour base and a liquid. First, the flour is fried in butter for about 1 minute, so that it acquires a delicate golden hue, and then the liquid is poured in - broth with milk, cream or sour cream.

You can do it a little differently. Fry the flour dry, and then, when it slightly changes color, add oil. When it melts, pour in the liquid and boil until thickened.

Prepare the sauce using the recipes below and serve with white fish, veal, poultry, potatoes, celery, cauliflower, and more.

Bechamel sauce - a classic recipe for sauce at home

First, prepare the foods you will need to create the sauce. It should be milk, butter. You will also need salt, flour. You can also add black pepper to taste, but only just a little, otherwise the taste and smell will be too harsh.

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 l.;
Butter - 100-150 g.;
Flour - 100 g;
Ground pepper - to taste;
Salt to taste.

Cooking method:

First of all, put the milk to heat. It does not need to be specially heated, boiled. You just need to put it on the table so that it stays at room temperature for about 20 minutes. By pouring in such milk, you will be able to quickly achieve a homogeneous mass, to avoid the appearance of lumps;
Now heat the butter. Please note: you do not need to try to throw it directly into the mixture of flour and milk, reheat it in one pan. Be sure to prepare the oil in advance. A small piece just needs to be melted and poured into any container;
Now is the time to fry the flour. You do not need to grease the pan. You just take a clean skillet, heat it up, and then pour the flour into it. It must be constantly stirred with a spatula, shaking and separating from the bottom. As soon as the flour acquires a golden hue, you can start pouring in the milk;
Pour milk carefully, in a thin stream. Hold a container of milk in one hand and a spatula in the other. Be sure to stir your mixture constantly. Only in this way will you be able to prepare the sauce according to the recipe;
When you have already poured the milk, you need to thoroughly mix the flour again so that the mass becomes perfectly homogeneous. The butter can be added along with the milk, but some people prefer to pour it in later, when the main mixture is ready. It doesn't really matter, so do it as it is more convenient for you;
At the final stage of cooking, you need to salt and pepper your mass. If you need to make it thinner, just add more milk or water. Bon Appetit!

The main sauces are prepared according to a certain technology on a certain liquid basis with a minimum amount of products in the additional part. The concept of base sauces was developed in the 19th century by French chefs Marie-Antoine Karem and later Auguste Escoffier and is still the standard in international gastronomy today.

The main French sauces are:

Bechamel- the main dairy sauce, prepared on the basis of white "ru" and milk. The basic recipe for Bechamel sauce is simple, like everything ingenious: fry an equal amount of butter and flour, pour hot milk;
Velute- the main white sauce, prepared on the basis of golden "ru" and light chicken / veal or fish broth;
Espanyol- the main brown sauce, made from red "ru" and strong meat broth. Differs from previous sauces in that the butter-flour mixture is fried until dark brown;
Hollandaise sauce... Prepared with egg yolks and butter. Smooth, creamy sauce, reminiscent of mayonnaise, goes best with seafood and vegetable dishes;
At the beginning of the 20th century, Escoffier also referred to the base sauces tomato(grated boiled tomatoes) and mayonnaise(from yolk, vegetable oil and mustard).

"Ru" is a thermally processed mixture of flour and fat, usually melted butter. Commonly used as a thickener in sauces. It is one of the main ingredients for classic French sauces, including Bechamel, Veloute, Espagnole and Hollandaise sauce. For the preparation of "ru" usually butter or vegetable oils are used.

All experiments at the stove begin with basic classic recipes. If you decide to go one step further in the culinary arts, a step-by-step recipe for Bechamel sauce for lasagne, moussaka, pasta and other popular dishes will provide a solid foundation for further development.

Bechamel sauce for lasagna - basic recipe

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 200 g;
Milk (at least 3.2% fat) - 1 liter;
Butter - 200 g.;
Nutmeg - a pinch;
Salt to taste.

Cooking method:

Add flour to the skillet. Fry it over low heat, stirring with a wooden spatula, until it acquires a pronounced creamy shade;
Add butter, fry flour with it for 3-5 minutes, stirring vigorously with a spatula;
Pour milk into the pan in a thin stream, whisking the sauce. There should not be a single lump in the sauce;
Add salt and nutmeg, stir the sauce;
Continue simmering the sauce, whisking it, for another 8-12 minutes, until thick enough.

After that, the sauce can be used. It should be applied hot. If it cools down, then before pouring the lasagna or greasing the dough, the Bechamel sauce must be warmed up.

For more than three hundred years, the cooking technology and the set of components have not changed. The basis of the classic Bechamel recipe consists of flour, milk and butter. This base is often used to prepare other sauces, adding cheese, fried onions, nuts and various spices or aromatic herbs.

Lasagna - recipe with minced meat and Bechamel sauce

Lasagna (Italian Lasagna) is a type of Italian pasta, which is a layer of durum wheat dough, which is sandwiched with various fillings and baked. Lasagna is a traditional Italian dish and there are many ways to prepare it. Today we will cook minced meat lasagna and Béchamel sauce, and follow the step-by-step recipe for the most delicious lasagna ever.

Ingredients:

Lasagna sheets - 200 g (6-10 pcs.);
Minced beef and pork - 1 kg.;
Carrots - 3 pcs.;
Parmesan cheese - 50 g;
Tomatoes - 6 pcs.;
Hard cheese (Russian) - 300 g;
Garlic - 4 cloves;
Onions - 3 pcs.;
Vegetable oil - for frying;
Salt to taste.

Cooking method:

Peel and finely chop the onion;
Peel the cloves of garlic and press through a garlic press or finely chop;
Wash carrots, peel and rub on a coarse grater;
My tomatoes, peel them off and grind them in a blender or grate them;
In a large frying pan, heat a little vegetable oil and lightly fry the onion and garlic in it;
Add carrots to the onion and fry them for a few more minutes;
Put the minced meat in the pan, salt, add spices to taste and continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes;
Add tomatoes to the minced meat, mix well and let it simmer for another 5 minutes, after which we remove the pan from the heat;
Grate the cheese on a coarse grater, and the parmesan on a fine grater;
Use ready-made lasagna sheets to prepare lasagna. Before cooking, carefully read on the packaging how the manufacturer recommends using the sheets (you need to boil them first, or not), we take dry sheets without boiling them;
Put the lasagna sheets in a baking dish;
Put half of the minced meat on top;
Spread half of the Bechamel sauce evenly (see above for the classic sauce recipe);
Sprinkle with half of the grated cheese. Put the lasagna sheets on top of the cheese again. Spread out the remaining minced meat, cover with half of the remaining Bechamel sauce;
Sprinkle with the remaining half of the grated cheese, and put the lasagna sheets on top again;
Cover the leaves with the remaining Bechamel sauce. We put the form in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 40-45 minutes;
After the specified time has elapsed, take the lasagna out of the oven and sprinkle with grated Parmesan and put in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Bon Appetit!

Lasagna with minced meat - video recipe

Lasagne with chicken and mushrooms with Bechamel sauce with cheese

In Italian restaurants, you can see more than 2 dozen varieties of lasagna: with mushrooms and vegetables, vegetarian and with spinach, with chicken or minced meat. We recommend making lasagna stuffed with chicken and mushrooms.

Ingredients:

Sheets of finished lasagna - 5-10 pcs.;
Boiled chicken fillet - 500 g;
Mushrooms (raw champignons) - 400 g;
Hard cheese (Russian) - 250 g;
Onions - 1 pc.;
Greens - for decoration;
Ground black pepper - to taste;
Salt to taste.

Cooking method:

We start by making Bechamel sauce. To do this, melt the butter in a saucepan with a thick bottom over low heat, then fry the flour on it a little, stirring constantly so that no lumps form and so that the flour does not burn;
Then you should slowly pour in all the milk, without ceasing to stir;
Season with salt and pepper, add nutmeg and bring to a boil, not forgetting to stir. When the sauce reaches the desired consistency, remove it from heat;
The first layer in our lasagne will be mushroom - let's start with its preparation. Cut the mushrooms into thin slices, the onions into small rings and fry the onions with mushrooms in heated vegetable oil;
Cut the boiled chicken breast into thin slices, three cheese on a coarse grater;
Cooking lasagna sheets. The stores sell ready-made raw sheets for lasagna, made from unleavened dough, like for pasta, mainly from durum wheat. Boil lasagna sheets in salted water so that they do not stick together, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. This is the approximate average time for preparing sheets, which may differ depending on the manufacturer, therefore, it is advisable to look at the instructions on the package;
Lay out the oiled form with lasagna sheets, put mushrooms on top of them (half of the total amount), pour with Bechamel sauce;
Cover the first layer of filling with lasagna sheets. We spread half of the total amount of chicken meat on them, pour with Bechamel sauce and sprinkle with a little grated cheese;
Covering a layer of meat with lasagna sheets, spread the rest of the mushroom filling on them, pouring with Bechamel sauce;
Cover the top again with sheets of dough, lay the rest of the meat on them, pour over the sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese. There can be as many such layers as the height of the baking dish allows you;
We cover the top layer of the filling with a sheet of lasagna and sprinkle abundantly with grated cheese so that a ruddy fragrant crust is baked;
In an oven preheated to 180 ° C, we put our lasagna to bake for 30-35 minutes;
Ready-made lasagne is served hot, sprinkled with finely chopped herbs on top. In conclusion, we note that the calorie content of this dish is 450 kcal per 100 g. Bon appetit!

To emphasize the taste of the dish, to give special notes, it is important to learn how to masterfully cook Bechamel. By following the recommendations below, you will learn how to cook in such a way that you will not be ashamed to serve food supplemented with it.

The sauce is prepared in several stages: first, a thickener is made. In France, it is called "roux", which sounds like "ru", and then it is combined with warm milk, sour cream or cream.

The sauce, named after Louis XIV's majordomo Louis Béchamel (although many assume that the dressing was created by one of the royal chefs, and he only appropriated the recipe for himself), begins with giving the flour a reddish color by frying in butter.

When cooled, a crust forms on the surface of the Bechamel sauce, which we do not need at all. But if you cover the saucepan with a lid, condensation will form and there will be water in the sauce. We don't need that either.

So we do this: we take cling film and cover the sauce with it - we put it right next to it, releasing the air. In this position, we leave Bechamel until it cools completely, if you need to store it, and not use it right away. Then we just remove the film - the cream will not stick to it. Try it, it's so easy and so delicious!

There are a few basic rules that are very easy to learn, then you will have Bechamel sauce anyway:

The right dishes... The pan or saucepan should have a thick bottom and a non-stick coating. To avoid damaging it, stir the sauce with a wooden spatula or silicone whisk;
Temperature contrast... Hot butter-flour mixture should be combined only with cold milk. And vice versa. If the ingredients are at the same temperature, the sauce will pick up in lumps or stratify;
Only milk... No other dairy products can be the basis for bechamel. True, some chefs like to experiment with cream. But they must first be diluted with vegetable or meat broth so that they do not curl up;
Knowing of limits... Bechamel is primarily a milk sauce. The delicate taste and aroma of milk should dominate, so don't overdo it with spices. They should only slightly shade the sauce;
Consistency... The thickness should be such that the Bechamel sauce slowly drips off the spoon, enveloping it. For lasagna or moussaka, the sauce can be thinner;
Correct presentation... Before serving Bechamel, you need to warm it up. As it cools, it will begin to crust over. Pleasant aroma, piquant taste, which the additive possesses, turn the dish into an exquisite masterpiece. By experimenting with the addition of spices, you can get a new original flavor.

Throughout its existence, Bechamel has become so popular that it has acquired many variations thanks to the addition of certain components (herbs, spices, vegetables). The only thing that is invariable is the base, although it is prepared in several ways: some add milk, others add cream. How to cook and what to serve "Béchamel", it is up to you to choose.

Bechamel has many variations:

Red or black pepper, nutmeg, bay leaves, tomato paste, horseradish root, fried onions, cheese are added to its base;
It can be liquid if used as a gravy, medium thick and thick if seasoned with soup, julienne, lasagne, spaghetti or baked meat, fish, vegetables. The thickness of the sauce can be varied by adding more or less flour. This will prevent Bechamel from drying out and forming a film-crust;
If the sauce turns out to be thinner than you expected, you should not add flour to the finished mass, it is better to hold it on the stove more than usual. This will be enough for the mass to thicken.

To make it more convenient to add milk to the sauce in a thin stream, it must be immediately poured out of the bag, without pouring it into a glass. Ready-made Bechamel sauce keeps well in the refrigerator, but if you need to keep it warm, you can keep it on the steam bath for an hour.

To prevent a film from forming on the surface of the sauce, you can put thin slices of butter or baking paper or cling film on it. Bon Appetit!

Bechamel sauce - step by step video recipe at home

Dishes using béchamel acquire a delicate taste. This sauce is considered basic in French cuisine. It is prepared from only three ingredients: flour, butter and milk. You can cook the sauce of the correct consistency at home, if you take into account some of the tricks in its preparation. After all, even the classic recipe has several variations.

Basics of making béchamel sauce

The base for the sauce is Rublon, which is often called simply "Ru" by culinary experts. It is a mixture of butter and flour, brought to a straw color. Then a liquid component is added to it. In the original recipe, this is cream, but you can use full-fat milk.
Some chefs add broth along with the dairy ingredients. It is not recommended to replace them with fermented milk products, otherwise they curl at high temperatures and the sauce will be lumpy.
The most important rule for making a sauce cannot be violated, in which flour and butter are used in the same proportions. The amount of liquid can be added differently, thereby changing the density of the bechamel.
For a light aroma in the sauce, you need to season the milk. In this method, seasonings are added to a cold liquid, then heated at a low temperature, and infused for about 30 minutes. In order not to filter the sauce, herbs with spices must first be wrapped in cheesecloth and boiled milk with it.
Bechamel should have a light creamy shade and a light consistency. You can check it with a spoon. If the mixture slowly drains from it, then the sauce is cooked correctly.

Bechamel sauce - a classic recipe

The traditional recipe for the sauce involves the use of only 3 ingredients and a certain preparation technology. Only if the recipe is followed will the bechamel get the required consistency with a delicate taste.

For 4 servings of sauce you will need:

butter - 2 tablespoons;
wheat flour - 2 tablespoons;
milk with 2.5% fat content - 1 tbsp.

Recipe:

Step 1. First, measure all the food you need strictly. If you need a large portion of the sauce, then stick to the indicated proportions. Be sure to sift the flour before adding it to the butter.

Step 2. Put a piece of butter in a saucepan, which then put on very low heat.

Step 3. Continue melting the butter until it becomes clear.

Step 4. Start adding flour in small portions. Stir the mixture gradually while doing this. Never change equal proportions of flour and butter, no matter how thick you are making the sauce.

Step 5. After adding all the flour, cook the mixture until golden brown. At this stage, it is important not to overexpose the Rublon, otherwise it will burn, and this will ruin the sauce.

Step 6. Heat the milk and add it to the mixture, but only 2-3 tablespoons at first.

Step 7. Stir the sauce thoroughly until smooth.

Step 8. Then add 2 more tablespoons of milk and stir the mixture again. However, do not increase the heat on the stove.

Step 9. On the third addition of milk, you must adjust the thickness of the sauce, so add 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir the sauce thoroughly after each new portion of liquid and add more milk if necessary.

Advice. This gradual infusion of milk will prevent lumps from forming, and the bechamel will acquire a uniform consistency.

Step 10. When bubbles appear on the surface, remove the sauce from the heat and add chopped spices.

You can also add herbs and other ingredients if desired. Traditionally, nutmeg is added to the sauce.

Step 11. Stir the sauce again, let it cool slightly and pour into a separate container.

Bechamel can be served separately with meat or mixed with other ready-made products in a dish.

Secrets of making béchamel sauce

It is necessary to use only warm liquid, which is added in small portions to the oil. If this is not done, then the flour will fall behind and rise, this will lead to the formation of lumps and heterogeneity of the sauce.
So that the bechamel does not taste bitter, the flour must be brought to a straw color in a pan. Stir it all the time, otherwise the mixture will burn from below.
Use only a wooden spoon or spatula to stir. Metal objects can lift a burnt layer from the bottom of the pan, which will mix with the main mass of the sauce.
Do not add spices to a hot mixture. They will only open fully when heated gradually, so they are best used in cold milk.
If you add vegetables and especially onions to bechamel, then they must first be sautéed. This will give the sauce a richer taste. But this should not be done if you plan on serving the sauce with fish.
The readiness of the bechamel can be determined by the bubbles that appear on its surface. At this point, it must be immediately removed from the stove.
To prevent the sauce from burning, cook it only over low heat or a steam bath. At the same time, do not forget to stir it constantly.
Bechamel is served only warm, otherwise a film will form on it. If you still have sauce, then before using it again, you need to heat the milk, add to the mixture and heat over low heat.
The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To prevent crusting on the surface, pour a little melted butter on top.
Liquid bechamel should not be consumed with flour. It is best to keep it on the stove a little more and stir until it thickens.
To make it easier to add milk in a thin stream, use a small container with a spout to heat it.

As you can see, making bechamel at home is very simple, if you follow the recipe and the technology of its cooking. Bon Appetit!

You've probably heard of the top 5 basic sauces in French cuisine? They are also called "mother" sauces or "great". They form the basis of the culinary tradition of France, they can be found in a huge number of recipes, they are used to build a large-scale and world-famous "building" of French cuisine.

Perhaps, standing in the same row with velute, Espanyol, Dutch and tomato sauces, the béchamel still crawls forward half a step - maybe because it is better known? Or is it because it is especially gentle and versatile and suits a huge variety of dishes? Or is the secret of its popularity in the special aura created around the Bechamel sauce - an aura of sophistication and elegance? Whatever it was, but this particular recipe is the main of the five parts that form the "backbone" of French cooking.

To be able to cook bechamel is practically a rule of good form. You must admit that you cannot appear in the kitchen, declare yourself a guru and begin to amaze guests without first having learned the basics and theory. So, to become a chef, among other exams, you will have to pass the test for the ability to cook the correct bechamel - this is the very indisputable and necessary basis. Let's figure it out.

Conventionally, the Béchamel sauce can be divided into two parts: ruble or ru (French roux - red) and milk (cream).

Rublon is flour fried until light golden, mixed with butter. The standard proportion is 1: 1, although some chefs sometimes change it according to their own preferences.

The amount of milk added to the sauce can also vary significantly in different versions. Depending on how thick the sauce you want to get, you will need a little more or a little less liquid. The general rule is as follows: for liquid béchamel sauce, add 120-180 g py per 1 liter of milk, for thick sauce - 300 g py per 1 liter of milk (thick, "like a paste", béchamel is the basis, for example, soufflé). It is easy to remember this ratio (for a sauce of medium thickness): parts of ru = 1 to 1, milk = 5 times the sum of parts of ru. So, if you take 50 g of butter and flour, then pour in 500 ml of milk.

The basic, classic béchamel sauce is minimalistic - it is milk, flour, butter, salt and pepper. This sauce is the basis for the preparation of other sauces or part of dishes - lasagna, moussaka, spinach dishes, compound pastes. But most often the milk for making the Béchamel sauce is preliminarily flavored - with herbs, roots, spices. The goal is to give neutral dishes a more expressive taste, the same baked fish or a slice of chicken fillet. To do this, put the necessary set of natural flavors in cold milk (nutmeg, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, thyme, dill, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, parsnip or parsley root), and then slowly bring to a boil - it is believed that only this is how the aromas of herbs and roots are best revealed. After boiling, the fire turns off, the pan is covered with a lid and left for 2-3 hours to infuse. After the specified time, strain the milk through cheesecloth or a fine sieve and then use it to make the sauce.

From the history of sauce

In general, the story is as simple as the world: they say that the famous sauce was invented by Louis Bechamel, the majordomo of Louis XIV, the king who ensured the flourishing of an absolute monarchy for his country. Alas, no intrigue, entertaining twists and turns of events and secret intricacies, despite the fact that the era itself was characterized by an abundance of secrets and secrets. However, one "highlight" in the loud, but short epic called "Bechamel" is present: historians strongly doubt that the invention of the recipe belongs personally to the king's affairs manager, Mr. Bechamel of the same name. Most likely, the sauce was first prepared by one of the court chefs, but the cunning major-domo, feeling how he could earn the king's favor, quickly attributed the invention to his own person.

The famous "white sauce" was first mentioned in Le Cuisinier François in 1651 - the book was written by the court chef of Louis XIV Francois Pierre de La Farenne, it was he who left a written indication of the newfangled sauce. After that, the culinary manual was reprinted many, many tens of times (only in the next 75 years - at least 30 times!), The popularity of the sauce continued to grow.

There was no exact recipe in the book, however, there is reason to assert that the bechamel has run up to this day practically unchanged: all the same wheat flour, all the same high-quality butter, all the same milk.

The classic recipe for Bechamel sauce

To start experimenting and creating, you need to learn how to implement a basic sauce recipe. In fact, there is nothing difficult, a little practice - and you will succeed!

Ingredients:
50 g butter;
50 g flour;
500 ml of milk with a fat content of 2.5%;
salt, ground white pepper.

Melt the butter over low heat. Make sure that the oil is not fried, in which case the sauce will turn out not white, but yellow or brown.

Add flour to the melted butter and begin to quickly rub it with butter with a wooden spatula and beat with a whisk. It will take you 1-2 minutes to combine flour and butter - during this time the mixture will slightly foam.

In a thin stream and in small portions (literally a spoon or two), start introducing cold (!) Milk, stirring and whipping the sauce each time until smooth. Fire is the minimum possible, or even remove the pan from the stove. Enter a smaller part of milk - 100-150 grams. When it becomes clear that there are no lumps in the sauce, add the remaining milk, increase the heat to medium, bring to a boil and simmer the sauce over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Remember to stir constantly!

Season the prepared sauce with salt and pepper.

You can store the sauce in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days, covering it with a greased film.

White sauce with nutmeg

This sauce - with spices - is even better known than the classic version. The principle of preparation and the proportions of ingredients are the same, only more milk can be consumed, since we will cook it. What spices are used most often? Nutmeg, as well as bay leaves, cloves, and ground peppers. You can add a small onion and other spices and herbs, or you can get by with just nutmeg.

Ingredients:
50 g butter;
50 g flour;
600 g of milk;
salt, nutmeg, spices and herbs to taste.

Prepare the roux as described above. Let it cool down.

Pound herbs and spices in a mortar, put in a cloth bag and send in cold milk. Bring to a boil, then cook for 10-15 minutes. Throw away the bag of spices (if it was not there, be sure to strain the milk through a sieve). Add up to 500 ml of hot milk if it has boiled too much.

Put cold roux into hot milk. Stir. If the milk has cooled down, put it on the stove, but do not bring it to a boil - we need hot milk, as it happens before boiling.

Whisk the roux until the sauce is smooth.

Watch this wonderful video in which Gordon Ramsay makes bechamel sauce with cheese in his inimitable manner. It is not necessary to understand English, you can even turn off the sound - you will understand everything without it.

Vegan bechamel

If for some reason temporarily or permanently you cannot eat animal products (diet, fasting, vegetarianism), no problem: you can make Bechamel sauce without milk! Read carefully, it's delicious.

Ingredients:
200 g cashew nuts;
350 ml of water;
60 g flour;
2 tbsp. l. olive oil;
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste.

Pour the raw cashews with boiling water and leave for 4-5 minutes, then pour out the water, put the nuts in the blender bowl and fill again with clean water - this time with cold water, add 300 ml. Turn on the blender, bring the mixture to full homogeneity, gradually pour in the remaining 50 ml of water, dilute the resulting nut milk with a little more liquid if necessary.

Mix flour with olive oil, lightly fry in a saucepan. Pour in the nut milk in a thin stream with constant stirring, stir until completely homogeneous. Cook over low heat until thickened. Finally add salt, pepper and nutmeg. If necessary, the resulting sauce can be filtered through a fine sieve.

Bechamel tomato sauce

A very non-standard combination, a kind of anti-white sauce, but nevertheless it is a béchamel, albeit not in quite the usual “clothes”. Trying is a must! The sauce is perfect for pasta, sandwiches, baked potatoes.

Ingredients:
50 g butter;
50 g flour;
500 ml of milk;
1 tbsp. l. tomato puree;
salt and pepper to taste.

Grind the butter with flour, put the mass in a pan with a thick bottom or in a saucepan and, stirring, lightly fry until light golden brown (see details above, in the basic recipe). Pour milk in a thin stream in portions - literally 50 ml each. After each "dose" we knead the flour mass until it is completely homogeneous. We introduce all the milk gradually. Finally, add salt, pepper, spices and tomato puree. Stir, the sauce is ready.

How to cook Béchamel in the microwave

Of course, this recipe is far from the classics - it can hardly be called canonical. However, it can be a great help for those who want to cook, but prefers to do it with a minimum investment of time and effort.

Ingredients:
50 g flour;
50 g butter;
600 ml of milk;
salt, nutmeg and other spices to taste.

Grind the melted butter with flour, place the bowl in the microwave for 1.5 minutes at maximum power.

We take out, pour in all the milk in a thin stream, stirring constantly. You need a homogeneous mass. Put the bowl back in the microwave for 4.5-5 minutes, maximum power. Pause the cooking process periodically and stir the contents of the bowl. At the end, add salt, nutmeg, mix well and filter through a fine sieve.

If you need a thicker sauce, increase the cooking time to 6 minutes.

Use the correct cookware - a thick-walled non-stick pan with one handle. Rub and stir with a wooden spatula and a handy whisk.

The main secret of a homogeneous, smooth, lump-free béchamel is the temperature of the sauce parts. Their contrasting, diametrically opposite temperature: if the roux is hot, the milk should be poured in cold, and vice versa: hot milk must interact with cold roux. It is acceptable if both are warm, other options, except those listed, are a path to disappointment. But if, nevertheless, the sauce turned out to be lumpy and completely unsuitable for use, take a blender in your hands and walk it through the resulting mass properly.

The cooking time of the sauce after boiling is 5-7 minutes. In French cooking textbooks, you will find the following recommendation: "Boil the sauce for no more than 10 and no less than 40 minutes, because in 10 minutes the taste of raw flour will not develop, and in 40-60 minutes the taste of raw flour will disappear from the sauce." Such is the scientifically proven fact. Classic béchamel is cooked according to all the rules for about an hour. Briefly, quickly, less than 10 minutes, prepare béchamel at home.

Do not overdo it with frying flour - it should only slightly gild, acquire a creamy shade and a subtle nutty smell. If the flour darkens thoroughly, the sauce will taste bitter, moreover, it will lose its color - after all, you are making a white sauce. The color of the sauce is softly light beige, light cream, without pronounced brown or yellow notes.

Do not seek to speed up something that should be cooked slowly a priori. The fire under the pan should be minimal, it will become medium only at the final stage, when you pour all the milk into the pan. Burnt sauce is not the best alternative to the time saved.

The classic component of Bechamel sauce is milk. Sour cream and other fermented milk "comrades" will inevitably curl up, this is not an option. However, you can take cream, while it should be borne in mind that cream is also not the easiest guys, they can also throw out a feint with their ears and curl up at the most inopportune moment. For this reason, many chefs dilute them with broth - vegetable or meat.

Bechamel is wonderful for its viscous, delicate texture and creamy aftertaste. No one forbids the use of spices in its preparation, however, keep in mind that it is the creamy aroma that must remain the presenter, everything else should modestly stand on the sidelines and only set off the main idea of the sauce.

The sauce can be made liquid, or it can be very thick - it depends on further goals. The "correct" consistency of the universal homemade bechamel will allow the mass to evenly drain off the spoon, slightly enveloping it with the remains. In no case should the finished product fall in a thick lump, just as it should not swiftly flop down on a liquid indistinct something. Dilute too thick sauce with milk, and then reheat. Thicken too liquid with a specially prepared roux, and then boil for another minute.

If you serve bechamel to the table as an accompaniment to certain cooked dishes (and do not use it as a component of a recipe), it must be served hot - when cooling down, the sauce will be covered with a crust, which is completely unacceptable. Therefore - serving hot, use - urgent. Well, or almost urgent.

If you have made too much sauce, the leftovers can be safely stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Remember to cover properly with cling film or pour the sauce into a sealed container.

With what to use Bechamel sauce? 10 ideas available:

Lasagna. Classic. Of course, there are recipes for making lasagna without Bechamel sauce, but nevertheless, the main and most popular recipe involves its use, many seriously believe that lasagna without bechamel is like borscht without beets.

Paste... Bechamel is one of the most popular sauces served with spaghetti, penne, tagliatella and other pasta. The creamy aroma and enveloping structure make any pasta virtually a masterpiece.

Bechamel mushroom sauce

Casseroles, tarts and pies. If the filling that you planned to put in the pie seems a little dry to you, a little béchamel will not only save the situation - it will transform it to incredible results! Boiled fish, fried minced meat, fresh vegetables - everything will be wonderful and tasty in the company with this sauce.

Pancakes... Mixing mushrooms, sautéed onions, boiled chicken fillet, some grated cheese, and béchamel makes an amazing pancake filling. Form "bags" out of them, tie them with a feather of green onions - you have a delicious snack ready.

Baked fish... Put any fish that is neutral in taste (sturgeon, pike perch, cod, hake, pangasius) into a baking dish, fill it with Bechamel sauce mixed with lightly fried mushrooms and cheese, bake until tender. Simple, elegant, delicious.

Oven baked or steamed vegetables - cauliflower, potatoes, root celery, broccoli, pumpkin, and more."Béchamel" will give restrained taste and often quite bland vegetables an interesting flavoring note. A little grated Parmesan - and an unrealistically healthy, tasty and aromatic dinner is ready.

Asparagus... Classics of the genre. Asparagus and bechamel are made for each other! The taste is refined, delicate, very delicate and "clean".

Eggs. Cooked in the oven under the Béchamel sauce, they will become a real feast of taste! Add some stewed spinach to the tins for the famous Florentine eggs.

Sandwiches... Down with harmful mayonnaise, try to season the ingredients of sandwiches and burgers with the classic "white" sauce. By the way, this is a great reason to learn how to cook Croque Monsieur - this sandwich is impossible without the famous bechamel.

Julienne... Yes, yes, season the chicken, mushrooms and cheese with the classic Bechamel sauce and get a delicious dish in its ideal.

Today, it is no longer so important who was the first to invent a milk sauce based on flour and butter, it does not matter what spices can be added to milk and what proportion to choose in order to make the Bechamel sauce ideal from the point of view of a particular person. Another thing is important: on the basis of a classic recipe, chefs tirelessly come up with new and new recipes. Who knows, maybe very soon we will hear something unusual from you too? Dare and do not be afraid, many wonderful discoveries have been made by amateurs.

Bechamel is one of the five so-called "mother" sauces, on the basis of which "daughter", secondary sauces are prepared, about which I will also say a little.

The basis for many French sauces, including bechamel, is flour lightly fried in butter. The delicate pasta obtained as a result of frying is called ru ( roux).

Depending on the degree of roasting, the flour dressing is white, golden and brown. For our bechamel you need to make a white ru.

What you need:

a skillet with a thick bottom or a massive stewpan
corolla
500 ml cold milk
30 g butter
30 g flour
salt, freshly ground white pepper, nutmeg

Pay attention to the same amount of flour and butter - this is one of the main rules for béchamel sauce. And the milk must certainly be cold. Pepper - white: in sauce bechamel it is not the pungency that is important, but the aroma. Nutmeg will delicately emphasize the milky taste. By the way, milk for the sauce can be pre-insisted on onions, carrots, cloves, bay leaves.

What to do:
Melt butter over medium heat and, as soon as it slightly foams, add flour over the entire surface. Grind quickly with a spoon or whisk and leave on fire for 1-2 minutes.

Then, with continuous stirring with a whisk, gently pour in the cold milk. Add heat and, while stirring, bring to a boil. Don't be afraid of lumps! A few more seconds and they will disperse into a homogeneous, thick sauce... And if this suddenly does not happen, rubbing the sauce through a sieve is considered quite natural. Some recipes even recommend that you strain the sauce through a sieve to remove clots. But this is a little later, when the bechamel is completely ready.

In the meantime, you need to reduce the heat to the very minimum and warm up for 40-45 minutes. Yes, the process is not fast and, at first glance, seems superfluous, but this is far from the case. During a long heating, excess moisture evaporates and the taste of flour completely disappears. If you do not follow this rule, then after the sauce is removed from the heat, it will change its consistency quite a lot - it will thicken.

At the end sauce salt, add white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Variations on a theme of bechamel

An independent béchamel sauce, as a seasoning for hot dishes of meat, fish, vegetables and pasta is ready. But its use does not end there. Béchamel sauce is used as an ingredient in dishes such as lasagna, moussaka and many gratins.

By the way, the famous and beloved Soviet ceremonial dish french meat is nothing but gratin from potatoes with meat. Only, it should, of course, not be drowned in the mayonnaise stratified substance, but baked with béchamel sauce. So boldly prepare a forgotten dish and serve it with pride like gratin. Only this advice - the sauce for baking needs to be made a little thicker. To do this, you should not reduce the amount of milk, but keep it on fire a little longer - up to 1 hour.

As I said at the very beginning, other equally famous sauces are prepared on the basis of bechamel. This is morne, nantua, aurora, subiz.

Sauce morne prepared with the addition of raw yolks, cream and Gruyere cheese. This sauce is poured over dishes before grilling - spring rolls, poached eggs, fish and seafood.

Sauce nantua is a béchamel sauce with the addition of delicious crayfish oil. The famous pike dumplings are cooked in nantua sauce.

Sauce subiz- bechamel with the addition of stewed onions and cream. Ideal with baked chicken, guinea fowl and veal.

Sauce Aurora- This " mother sauce»Plus cream, butter and tomato paste. It goes well with pasta, cauliflower, turkey escalope.

Olga Syutkina:
“The kitchen of my love” was the title of my first book. Since then, in addition to traditional gastronomy, my husband and I have taken up the history of Russian cuisine, have written a new book - "The Invented History of Russian Cuisine". It is about the past of our gastronomy, about how it arose and developed. About the people who created it. Now the continuation of this work is coming out - already about the Soviet period. Together with our readers, we are trying to figure out whether Soviet cuisine was a logical stage in the development of the great Russian culinary arts or was it an accidental zigzag of history. Here I will try to tell you about how sometimes, in an amazing way, history comes to our today's world, to our kitchens and tables.

Olga Syutkina's recipes:

Meat broth

Broth is a French word. But by the irony of fate or semantics, even in Russian, it capaciously reflects the process: I immediately imagine a bubbling aromatic broth ...

In general, sauces are an amazing invention. It would seem that they were invented in order to make our life more varied and tastier. But in fact, in the past, the main task of the sauce was considered to be the disguise of a dish with a "smell". With refrigerators in the southern regions of Europe, it was difficult, so the chefs were as sophisticated as they could to save dishes from meat, poultry or seafood. In ancient Rome, for example, garum sauce made from fermented salted fish was used for this purpose. This sauce drowned out any smells perfectly.

Despite the fact that sauces have been used in cooking since ancient times, no one officially wrote down their recipes for a long time. The two oldest base sauces - béchamel and mayonnaise - were only recorded about 200 years ago. Then they remembered other "mother" sauces, or Grand sauce, as they are called in France, these are Veloute sauce, Espagnole sauce, Hollandaise and tomato sauces. The classification of sauces is due to the founding father of haute French cuisine, Marie-Antoine Carem, who was considered the king of chefs. From now on, any chef had to know how to prepare basic sauces and could experiment on their basis, inventing new options with different tastes. Today sauces perform several functions: they serve as a cooking medium, make meat more tender and enhance flavor.

So, bechamel is one of the five basic, "mother" sauces of European cuisine. Bechamel itself is a complete sauce, and serves as the basis for many others. Like any base sauce, bechamel is quite simple in composition. It is made from milk, which is diluted with a mixture of wheat flour and butter (or any other fat). In French this mixture is called roux (ru). Before the invention of roux, sauces were thickened with plain bread, which was not so convenient and tasty.

Who invented the béchamel sauce is still not known for certain. Currently, there are as many as four versions of his invention. Some experts believe that the birthplace of this sauce is Italy, others assume that it is a purely French sauce, others attribute the merit of its invention to the 17th century gourmet financier Bechamel, but most are inclined to believe that this sauce was invented by the royal chef François Pierre de la Varen. In any case, it was Varen who published the recipe for the béchamel sauce in his famous cookbook Le cuisinier françois.

How bechamel is prepared

In ancient times, bechamel could only be afforded by wealthy people who could cook with fresh milk. Today, the problem of food storage is not so acute, so anyone can enjoy the taste of béchamel sauce. Bechamel is very simple and quick to prepare. The main thing is to do everything according to the rules.

To make béchamel sauce, you need to take wheat flour, butter, a little salt, nutmeg and milk. The proportions depend on how much sauce you need. For a whole quart, use 5 cups whole milk, 1/3 cup flour, and 6 tablespoons melted butter. If you need less sauce, it is enough to take 40 g of flour and butter (experts insist that the proportions of fat and flour should be the same), 0.5 liters of milk, salt and nutmeg to taste. You can add pepper to the bechamel, but white is better, so as not to spoil the color of the sauce. We also need a saucepan with a thick bottom and a wooden spatula or spoon. You need to start by preparing an oil-flour mixture - ru.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, but do not bring it to a boil. Add flour to the butter and stir the mixture well for several minutes. This mixture may change color a little, become golden, but do not bring it to brown, otherwise you will have to redo everything. We remove the pan from the heat, gradually introduce milk into the fried mixture and continue to stir it all, avoiding the formation of lumps. The most interesting thing is that real wars are being waged over the temperature of the milk used to prepare the béchamel sauce. Half of the sauce lovers insist on keeping the milk cold, while the other half is adamant and heats it up before adding milk to the roux. Both of them promise that the sauce will be without lumps, thick and with a gooey structure. It is possible to decide who is right only by experience, having tried both the one and the other method. So, gradually add milk, stir and keep the sauce on fire until it boils. Then add salt, nutmeg and pepper to taste. It is unlikely that the sauce will take you more than 10 minutes to cook. If, unfortunately, lumps in the sauce have formed, an ordinary sieve through which the sauce can be rubbed quickly and easily, or a blender will help.

Try experimenting based on béchamel sauce. By adding any cheese to regular bechamel, you get the Morne sauce. For meat dishes and vegetable dishes, replace half of the milk in the cooking sauce with meat broth, for fish dishes - with fish broth. Add cream to the bechamel for a creamy sauce, and herbs for a spicy herb sauce. Bechamel mustard sauce is also made elementary: just a few mustard seeds and the sauce is ready. The milk used for the béchamel sauce may also be unusual: onions and cloves or bunches of spicy herbs are kept in it, which are removed before making the sauce, and the aroma of the milk becomes simply divine.

Best of all, béchamel sauce goes best with white meat, fish, vegetables, omelets and pasta. Traditionally, before serving, the prepared sauce is kept in a water bath so that it does not cool down, and a small piece of butter is placed on top so that a crust does not form.