Not to tell tales, but once someone (who shall remain nameless) made a white sauce for pasta and shared it with me. Despite their being a good cook and claims of previous success it tasted like wet flour on pasta (yuk!). Not very appetizing. I have since made white sauce for recipes (primarily souffles) but this is my first time eating it straight.
I wanted to replicate a favorite spinach pizza (from one of those hole in the wall pizzeria's next to a 7-11) and therefore needed a white sauce. The pizza turned out tasty (spinach white sauce with shallots and mozz). I made the full recipe (below) with lots leftover I get to try other iterations. First I reheated it to top some cooked pasta. It was part of a tasty lunch on a cold rainy winter's day. I have more sauce left and am considering the options: more pasta, egg dish, vegetable sauce, casserole. Other ideas?
Spinach White Sauce (or béchamel)
2 1/2 T. butter
2 1/2 T. flour
2 c. warmed milk
1/2 t. salt
pepper
~1 c. frozen spinach, steamed
2 cloves garlic, minced/pressed
1. Melt butter, stir in flour and cook for 1 minute, don't allow it to color beyond a buttery yellow. Remove from the heat. Gradually stir in 3/4 warmed milk into flour mixture to make a smooth sauce. Return to heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with wooden spoon. When thickened (about 3 minutes) remove from heat. Add remaining milk as needed.
2. Add steamed spinach and garlic to sauce. Stir periodically to prevent skin from forming, if necessary.
