This sauce is so easy and quick to make and is the basis for so many other sauces and recipes out there. Everyone should have this one in their repertoire so I thought it would be good to cover the basics and share it with you.

• 25g butter
• 25g flour
• 300ml milk
• Pinch of ground nutmeg

1. Start by melting the butter in a sauce pan
2. Take the pan off the heat and gradually add in the flour and stir to form a paste
3. Place your pan back on a medium heat and pour in about a third of the milk an stir well. When the first lot of milk is mixed in well carry on gradually adding the rest of the milk while stirring.
4. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of ground nutmeg.
5. The key to the sauce to to stir it a lot to stop it getting too thick and to gradually add the milk to stop it from forming any lumps. The sauce can get thick very quickly so you will need to watch for when it start to thicken and then take it off the heat.
6. If your sauce does get slightly too thick then just add in a little more milk and stir to get the consistency you require. If your sauce ends up with some lumps don’t worry, just pour it through a sieve!
7. The sauce should be thick enough so that it just coats the back of a spoon

I will update this article with links to other recipes that use this sauce as we publish them.

Update 16/5/10 – Lasagne Al Forno