Everyone knows béchamel sauce as part of lasagna. Many people also think that it is very difficult to make and even more people do not know that you can use it for many dishes. Once you know how to make a béchamel sauce, you can keep varying it endlessly. This article contains a recipe for lasagna and a recipe for a real Dutch oven dish.
How do you make béchamel sauce?
The standard recipe gives 1 part butter, 1 part flour and 10 parts milk. A better result is obtained if you use margarine instead of butter. First of all, the butter is melted in the pan. Lower the heat and add the flour. Stir well and let the mixture fry briefly. Then add the milk and stir vigorously with a whisk to prevent lumps. Gently heat the sauce with constant stirring. After about 10 minutes the sauce will thicken. Add the desired seasonings.
Lasagne bolognese
Ingredients (4-6 persons)
- 400 g mixed minced meat
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 aubergine, cut into pieces
- 2 cans of diced tomatoes
- 3 cans of tomato paste
- 2 scoops of mozzarella, thinly sliced
- grated cheese
- lasagne sheets
- 1 bay leaf
- Italian herbs or oregano
- pepper, salt, olive oil
- balsamic vinegar, optional
- 50 g butter
- 50 g flour
- 500 g of milk
Preparation
Heat some olive oil in a pan. Add the onions and fry until translucent. Add the garlic and fry for about one minute. Then add the minced meat and fry it loose. When the ground beef is almost right, add the aubergine. Then spoon the tomato puree into the mixture and fry it. Only add the tomato cubes when the tomato paste no longer smells sour. This will take about a few minutes. Season the sauce to taste with pepper, salt, Italian herbs and a dash of balsamic vinegar or red wine if desired. Also add the bay leaf. Cover the pan and let the sauce simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and in the meantime make the béchamel sauce as described above. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Lightly grease an oven dish.
Make the layers of the lasagna as follows: a layer of lasagne sheets, on top the red sauce, another layer of lasagne, slices of mozzarella and finish with the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Place the lasagna in the oven for 35-45 minutes until the top is nicely browned.
Leek dish with mustard
Ingredients (4-6 persons)
- 500 g mixed minced meat
- 2 red onions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 600 g leek, cut into rings
- 500 g potato slices, not precooked
- 100 g grated cheese
- 3-5 tbsp coarse mustard
- pepper, salt, curry powder
- 50 g butter
- 50 g flour
- 500 ml of milk
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Heat a pan without oil and fry the minced meat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the garlic cloves and fry for a minute. Season the mixture with salt, pepper and curry powder. Add the leek and toss well. Bake for a few minutes and then turn off the pan. Make the béchamel sauce as described above. Finally add the mustard to taste and a handful of grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
Spoon the minced meat mixture into a lightly greased baking dish. Pour the béchamel sauce over the minced meat. Divide the potato slices on top and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Place the dish in the oven for 30 minutes.
Tip: A nice variation on this is to replace the leek with cauliflower or broccoli and replace the mustard in the béchamel sauce with just cheese. The recipe is otherwise the same as described above.
