Bechamel sauce
Makes about 600ml
Ingredients
600ml milk
a few slices of onion
1bay leaf
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
35g butter, plus extra for dotting on top if needed
35g plain four
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
Directions
Bring the milk to the boil in a pan with the onion, bay leaf and peppercorns, then simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to infuse for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in another pan, melt the butter, add the flour, stir to combine and cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally (the resulting paste is called a roux in restaurant kitchens)
Strain out the flavourings from the milk. Make sure that both the milk and roux are hot, then start gradually adding the milk to the roux, using a whisk. Whisk vigorously to make sure that no lumps form. (If you do get lumps, not to worry - they will often whisk out, or you can just strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pushing all the bits through, and begin whisking again in a new pan).
Cook the sauce very slowly for 15-20 minutes, stirring until it has thickened and is velvety
Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Some recipes using bechamel are good with a little pinch of grated nutmeg
If not using straight away, dot the top of the sauce with butter or cover with a piece of baking paper to stop a skin forming