Béchamel sauce

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 ozunsalted butter
• 1 3/4 ozall-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cupswhole milk, warmed
• 1bay leaf
• 1/4 tspground nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 tspsea salt
• 1/4 tspwhite pepper

Method

1. 1

   Warm the milk gently with the bay leaf until it is steaming but not boiling, then take it off the heat and leave it to infuse while you make the roux.

2. 2

   Melt the butter in a heavy pan over a medium-low heat, stir in the flour, and cook it, stirring, until it looks like wet sand and smells faintly of cookies.

3. 3

   Fish out the bay leaf and add the warm milk a ladle at a time, whisking each addition until completely smooth before the next goes in. It will look thick and alarming at first and then loosen.

4. 4

   Simmer gently, stirring often and reaching into the corners of the pan, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Season with the nutmeg, salt and white pepper.