Béchamel Sauce

Sometimes simply called white sauce, béchamel is essentially milk thickened with a roux made
by cooking together flour and butter. Older recipes were somewhat more elaborate and
contained mirepoix—diced celery, carrots, and onions—cooked in butter before the flour was
added and sometimes a bit of unsmoked bacon or air-cured ham. A bouquet garni, rarely called
for in modern recipes, was also included. Depending on how you are using the sauce, these are still worthwhile additions. But if your béchamel will be used as the base for a cheese soufflé, for example, these extra ingredients are probably more bother than they are worth.

Béchamel is made in different thicknesses, depending on how it will be used: very thick for a soufflé base, somewhat thinner for a vegetable gratin, and thinner still for a soup base.

MAKES 2 CUPS

• 1 to 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons finely diced onion (optional)
• 3 tablespoons finely diced carrot (optional)
• 1 tablespoon finely diced celery (optional)
• 1 tablespoon finely diced prosciutto end or pancetta (optional)
• 1 to 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• Bouquet garni (optional)
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
• Tiny pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
• Salt
• White pepper

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. The more butter and flour you use,
the thicker the sauce. Add the vegetables and prosciutto and cook for 5 minutes, stirring almost
constantly, or until the onion turns translucent. (This technique is called sweating.) Add the same amount
of flour as you did butter and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes longer, or until the flour smells toasty. If you are not using vegetables and/or prosciutto, just cook the flour in the butter for 2 minutes.

Add the milk all at once and bring to a simmer while whisking constantly. Whisk until smooth, add
the optional bouquet garni, and simmer for 5 to 20 minutes. If the sauce is being cooked in something
else, such as a soup, soufflé, or gratin, simmering for 5 minutes is enough. The longer cooking time is to
cook the starchy taste out of the flour or infuse the bouquet garni. Discard the bouquet garni and season
with cayenne, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.