Bechamel, or white sauce, is what some people use in their lasagna instead of the ricotta and mozzarella mixture in the middle. You can easily turn this recipe into a cheese sauce too. These ingredients make about 1 cup of bechamel, which is considered one of the 5 "mother" sauces of French cuisine.
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1¼ cups milk, heated*
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don't let it brown — about 2 minutes. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat. To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.
*Warm the milk on low heat just until little bubbles begin to form at the edges. Then remove from heat.
Cheese Sauce
To turn your white sauce into cheese sauce, stir in ½ cup grated Cheddar cheese during the last 2 minutes of cooking, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
