Did you know that the leftover milk in your fridge can be turned into a silky af creamy sauce?
It’s that easy.
the only photo of me and my sauce [its embarrasing]
Besciamella may be more principessa shit than contadino shit historically. Its original name is béchamel, though I can’t be bothered to pronounce things in French because I sound well stupid. Béchamel is the queen mother of sauces in France, born to please the fancy taste buds of the French court in the 17th century. The name was gifted in honor of King Louis XIV’s right-hand man, Louis de Béchamel.
He wasn’t even a chef.
Naturally, the Italians have proof that they did not get béchamel from the French. (The food nationalism runs deep, even if they share borders.) And funny enough, the grandmamma to besciamella was some real deal contadino shit.
Salsa colla, or ‘glue sauce’, is what Italians say is the precursor; a 15th-century sauce made of simmering any leftover collagen-filled parts of the animal (bone, cartilage, skin, and connective tissue) to make a thick sauce.
I am sure you’re thinking - I’ll take the French béchamel.
Don’t worry, today’s Italian cream sauce not only has no meat, but also has nearly the same name. Besciamella does sound oddly like béchamel…
Bringing us back to 2026…where we always have a carton of milk that we never finish in the fridge, especially after the holidays. And it’s screaming:
TURN ME INTO BESCIAMELLA BABY! PLEASEEEEE DON’T POUR ME DOWN THE DRAIN!!!
the besciamella technique
A good ratio to keep in mind here is - 1 tablespoon milk: 1 tablespoon of flour, then 1 cup of milk. The result is usually around 1 cup of besciamella.
Start with the roux: Melt the butter over med-low heat, and gently add flour, stirring. Don’t brown, just dissolve the flour. If its thickening too fast, lower the heat.
Now for the besciamella: Carefully whisk in milk. If it’s cold milk, even slower.
Keep stirring as it thickens; besciamella rewards patience, not high heat.
Once all the milk is added and the sauce is thick, season with a little salt. Then let it cook, stirring until it coats the back of a spoon.
Now the grated nutmeg question: Traditional? Sure. Mandatory? No. If you don’t have it, don’t panic. A tiny pinch of white pepper works. So does black pepper, used sparingly. A bay leaf steeped in the milk can also be sexy. Or, after the besciamella is cooked, you can add a hefty pinch of parmigiano.
A good lasagna needs about 2-3 cups of besciamella for a 9 x 13-inch pan. A slutti af american lasagna probably needs 4. At that point its just a mac n cheese, and you might as well throw a pound of cheddar in your besciamella while you’re at it.
On that note…
The slutti casseroles aka hibernation recipes are en route
Of course, that means more one-pot pastas, too!
This all includes my sexy (and GF) winter baked pasta recipe I recently posted on the gram, which relies heavily on this cream sauce technique. Full recipe to come in a few days, but in the meantime - don’t waste your milk and make some damn besciamella.
Besciamella lasts 2-3 days in the fridge, in an airtight container.
Gird your loins for the winter recipes to come, bitches.
Xx,
Victoria