August 16, 2023

Vegan Bechamel

A plant-based bechamel built from savory infused almond milk, vegan butter or oil, flour, nutmeg, and optional nutritional yeast.

Ingredients

• 1 liter almond milk, with no added sugar; soy, oat, or rice blends are fine if unsweetened
• 1 onion, cut in 4; peel if not organic, keep peel if organic
• 3 garlic cloves, cut in half; peel if not organic, keep peel if organic
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Salt
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• Fresh nutmeg
• 1/2 cup vegan butter or neutral-flavored vegetable oil
• A few tbsp white flour
• Nutritional yeast (optional)

Process

1. 1.Put all the milk in a saucepan on a low fire.
2. 2.Add the onion, garlic, a good amount of fresh black pepper, 1 tsp salt to start, bay leaves, and freshly grated nutmeg.
3. 3.Let it slowly warm for about 20 minutes; it does not have to boil.
4. 4.Once the milk smells savory, sift out the onion, garlic, and bay leaves.
5. 5.In a saucepan, melt the butter or heat the oil.
6. 6.Turn the fire low.
7. 7.Add flour until you get a crumbly dough.
8. 8.Stir until the crumbles start to smell like cookies.
9. 9.Add the infused milk bit by bit, stirring consistently.
10. 10.Let the mixture become homogeneous before adding more milk.
11. 11.Keep adding milk until you reach a nice thick sauce.
12. 12.Taste and add more salt if needed.
13. 13.Add nutritional yeast for extra flavor if you like.