Sauce Soubise
Béchamel turned silken and sweet by a purée of onions sweated low and slow until they surrender all their bite. Pale, glossy, faintly perfumed — the classic partner to roast meats, eggs, and anything that wants a soft allium hum.
Ingredients
For 4 servings · tick what is ready
Use the scaled ingredient list. Steps and temperatures stay unchanged; use a larger pan or dish if needed. Seasonings to taste stay to taste.
How to make it
Melt the butter over low heat, add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt, and cover with a lid or a cartouche. Sweat them gently for 20-30 minutes, stirring now and then, until completely meltingly soft and translucent. This is sweating, not sautéing — the onions must NOT take on any color, or the finished sauce will turn gray and taste of fried onion instead of sweet.
In a separate pan, melt the butter until foaming but not browning, whisk in the flour, and cook 2-3 minutes over medium-low heat to a pale white roux, stirring constantly. Keep it white to protect the sauce's delicate color.
Stream in the warm milk, whisking constantly, then simmer gently 8-10 minutes to a nappe consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Season with nutmeg and white pepper. Keep it on the thicker side — the watery onions will loosen the final purée.
Stir the sweated onions into the béchamel and simmer together a few minutes to marry. Purée smooth with a blender or immersion blender, then pass through a fine sieve for the silkiest texture — push the purée through with a ladle and discard any fibers left behind. Taste and adjust salt; finish with a knob of butter for gloss if you like.
About this recipe
By ForkRecipe Kitchen · Source: ForkRecipe / FoodML and contributors. Recipe content available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Serving count is an estimate; check quantities in the source recipe.