The Best Bechamel
Bechamel is a great basic recipe to have up your sleeve. It is the basis for any cream sauce, souffle, gravy, creamy casserole etc. The basic recipe is just fat cooked with flour to thicken milk or broth. From there you can add seasonings, cheese, miso paste, nutritional yeast… the sky is the limit. These are some extras I like to add to create a depth of flavor before adding eggs or cheese to make mac and cheese, souffle, creamy pasta or gravy.
Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter or oil
4 tbsp flour
4 cups milk or unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp salt (I prefer herb salt)
Freshly grated nutmeg (you can use 1/8 tsp of pre ground but the freshly grated is a real game changer and cost wise I think is a better value. I order mine from iHerb)
1 tsp miso paste
1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 bay leaf
Recipe:
Add the butter to a medium sauce pan and melt over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to form a paste. Then add the milk and whisk to combine. Make sure there are no lumps of flour.
Continue to whisk as the liquid with thicken. Add the miso paste, nutmeg, bay leaf and nutritional yeast. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly.
Once you have a flavorful thickened cream sauce, turn off the heat. At this point you can add your grated cheese and pasta if making a mac and cheese or combine with vegetables and a grain to make a creamy casserole. You can even save this in the fridge and use it a cup at a time to make souffle or to add to a pasta dish to create a quick cream sauce. Dollop over the top of lasagna or pizza to create a bubbly brown top.
