« White sauce

Used in lasagne and cheesy pasta bakes. The roux (melted butter and flour) is the base of gravy

Super basic

If you just need to make it quick

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 2 tbsp Flour
  • 1 pint Milk

Method

  • Melt the knob of butter in a saucepan
  • Stir in the flour
  • Stir in the milk slowly so it thickens before adding more
  • Season

It’s entirely likely that you’ll get lumps doing it like this even if you add the milk slowly. Use a whisk and warm the milk first to lessen the likelihood of lumpy time.

Cheesy

Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 2 tbsp Flour
  • 1 pint Milk
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 50g cheese

Method

Same as for basic sauce, but add the mustard and cheese at the end

Super deluxe

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 2 tbsp Flour
  • 1 pint Milk
  • half a small onion
  • 1 bay leaf
  • grind of nutmeg

Method

  • Bring the milk to the boil with the onion, bay leaf and nutmeg, then turn off and leave to infuse for 20 mins
  • Follow the method for basic sauce