Basic white sauce
Description
Minimal ingredients — excellent result. The white sauce has a delicate texture and a pleasant creamy flavor. It can be served with salads, meat, fish, cutlets, meatballs, chicken, vegetables, and side dishes. Enhance the sauce with fresh herbs, mushrooms, roasted nuts, cheese, seafood, capers, garlic, or aromatic spices, and it will take on new flavors. The white sauce does not keep well for long, so it should be prepared specifically for a particular dish. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
In a saucepan, heat the milk over low heat with the onion, bay leaf, and cloves until it comes to a boil. Turn off the heat and let it steep for 20 minutes. Then remove the onion, bay leaf, and cloves from the milk.
- 2
Step 2
In another saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Constantly stirring, heat the flour until a light beige-colored flour paste forms. Cook the paste for another 2 minutes.
- 3
Step 3
Add the milk to the flour paste in portions, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, until a smooth sauce without lumps is obtained.
- 4
Step 4
Simmer the sauce over low heat for 5–10 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Season the white sauce with salt and ground black pepper to taste.