Mi sento benessimo oggi ! God, I feel great today and on this beautifully sunny day just thought that I would put something pretty basic but extremely useful here so away we go!
Bechamel Sauce and Bechamel for Italian dishes (ie lasagna & tagliatelle pasta)
I was told at a culinary seminar that I participated in (in Paris) many moons ago that the bechamel sauce is one of the four mother sauces in the traditional kitchen, the others come from Germany, Spain and naturally France (where this sauce is said to have originated). Bechamel is simple and it is a milk based white sauce.
In general one will need two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of flour to produce the "roux" which translates from French into the reddish-brown which comes from the flour and butter mixture and the more you cook this the darker it will become however in this context, we will want to keep the color as white as possible for the basic sauce.
When the roux is made (the flour and the butter) we want then to gradually add milk (not cold but room temp). Whisk the new born sauce gradually as you are adding the milk to it, go light other wise it will result in a watery mess!. Cook this mixture gently for a few minutes until it thickens.
If you wish a thin sauce, use only one tablespoon of butter and flour, and for a thicker sauce, use three tablespoons of the flour and butter and thats pretty much it!
VARIATIONS FOR AN ITALIAN TOUCH:
When you have the above sauce base to the consistency you want (smooth) you can add a pinch of salt, chopped parsley, pinch of nutmet and a couple oz of parmigiano. What I like to do for a nice sauce for the Lasagna or fresh pasta is to add about 6-10 oz of ricotta cheese to the sauce, oh make sure that any time you are adding something more "ethnic" to the base sauce you must keep the heat on low and stir.
Other variations are to add to the base sauce (flour, butter, milk, pinch of salt) is a bay leaf, garlic, celery, peeled carrot, nutmeg etc). Just be aware that you will need to strain out the added elements ie onion, garlic, carrot from the sauce prior to applying to your dish.
There you go.... so get to work and experiement and ENJOY!
Sounds wonderful. I must try this recipe this week! I will be in Rome in May for the Mille Miglia and some great food and drink-wish I could have met you there to say hi. Your blog site looks great-keep going!
ReplyDeletehey Dimagirl, yes the bechamel adds a wonderful ozzzzy texture to the lasagna. it often dries out and this sauce with a bay leaf in it (while its simmering) really adds some goodness to the finished lasagna! keep commenting....
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