Besciamella and how to use it

Besciamella is the same thing as white sauce or bechamel, with the notable exception that besciamella usually has nutmeg grated into it at the end.  It’s easy and cheap to make but you can also buy it readymade in supermarkets.  My friend, Cherrye, of My Bella Vita, recently mastered besciamella and altered forever how she feels about lasagne.  Frankly, until recently I didn’t know you could buy besciamella.  I heard about it and I ran right down to the supermarket and my God, there it was.  I could feel my life shredding around the edges.

Cherrye’s recipe is correct for a medium besciamella, but I teach it a bit differently because I discovered that some quite experienced cooks didn’t know a simple trick.  After you have the flour and butter blended and sizzling, take the pan off the heat before adding the milk, bit by bit, stirring all the while.  That way you will never get lumps.

Besciamella (medium)

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup or 237 ml milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• generous grating of nutmeg

Heat the butter and flour in a heavy pan and stir them while they join to form a paste.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in, very slowly, the milk until it is a smooth composition.  Return the pan to the heat and add the salt.  Taste and correct it.  Continue to cook the besciamella until it thickens, stirring constantly.  This takes a very short time.  Add the nutmeg.

If you are using the besciamella to cook with, this is all you need to do.  If you are using the besciamella as is, like as a sauce over something, you should continue to cook it over very low heat for a minute to be sure there is no taste of raw flour.  Obviously, if it is going to be cooked again, that will never be a problem.

Light besciamella uses 1 tablespoon of flour to thicken 1 cup or 237 ml of milk, heavy besciamella uses 3 tablespoons of flour for that amount.  Obviously you muist scale the salt to how much you are making.  You might make a light besciamella as the start of a sauce or to bake a vegetable in, or you might use a heavy besciamella as the start to a soufflé.  After reading Cherrye’s post I found myself whipping things up using besciamella.  Here is one dish I made when I had a Couch Surfer from Amsterdam come to visit.  We really liked it.

Chicken and Spinach  Lasagne

Serves 4     heat oven to 175°C OR 350°F

• 200 g or 7 ounces of thin, fresh egg pasta sheets — I made mine
• 2 cups or 1/2 liter light besciamella with an added dash of Tabasco or pinch of cayenne
• leftover cooked chicken, up to 8 ounces or 250 grams
• 1/2 cup or 125 ml cooked spinich, squeezed dry in your hand
• 30 g or 1 ounce grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Make the besciamella as described, cut the chicken into smallish pieces without skin.  In a flat baking dish that holds at least 1.5 quarts or liters, spread a little of the besciamella.  Add a layer of pasta, then chicken, then spinach, then besciamella again.  Repeat those steps, ending with besciamella.  Sprinkle the Parmigiano over the lasagne and pop into the oven for less than thirty minutes.

You can serve this as a one dish meal with a salad or as a first course at an Italian meal.

There is another recipe using besciamella coming shortly, but even though my cold is almost over, I still can’t taste very well. While I work on that little problem, I think I’ll send this to Presto Pasta Night, this week hosted by the inventive Ruth, of Once Upon a Feast. Check it out!