Béchamel Sauce with Lemon Draped Over Roasted Carrots
Roasted Sweet Carrots with Lemon Béchamel Sauce
Oven roasted fresh carrots certainly brings out the flavor and sweetness of carrots. Adding a complimentary sauce to them not only dresses them up but further enhances their taste. A béchamel sauce is traditionally made from a white roux and milk and is also known as a white sauce. For this recipe, I added a little lemon juice for more flavor. The lemon taste is very light in this recipe; so, if you prefer more lemon taste, I would grate some lemon peel with a rasp or fine grater and add it to the sauce. You can certainly also add more spices to this recipe that compliment your main course. For instance, add a little dill if you are serving fish or thyme for an Italian entrée.
Serves: 2 to 4
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Suggested Tools:
· Long baking sheet pan
· Pastry brush
· Measuring spoons
. Tongs
Roasted Carrots -
Ingredients:
· 5-6 large fresh carrots, clean and then peel if you choose, but keep them whole
· 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon crushed ground pepper
Instructions –
1. Place whole carrots on a baking sheet pan (you may want to first line the pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean-up).
2. Pour olive oil, one tablespoon at a time, over the carrots and spread the oil over the carrots with a pastry brush.
3. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the carrots.
4. Place the carrots in a pre-heated 400-degree oven and bake for 20 minutes, turn them with tongs and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until soft to your desired doneness.
Béchamel Sauce with Lemon -
Prep: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Servings: 2 to 4
Suggested Tools:
· Deep non-stick skillet at least 12 inches
· Wooden spoon
· Whisk
· Rubber Spatula
· Measuring cups
· Measuring spoons
Ingredients:
. 2 cups whole milk, warmed – plus more for thinning if needed, (I warmed my milk in the microwave for 1 ½ minutes).
· 3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (2 medium sized lemons)
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or for GF use GF flour
· 1 teaspoon salt
· ½ teaspoon ground pepper
· Dash of ground nutmeg
Instructions:
Begin cooking the sauce about 20 minutes before the carrots are done cooking.
1. Warm the milk preferably in a vessel with a spout (I used a 3-cup measuring cup).
2. Melt the butter in the skillet on low heat. Then very lightly sprinkle in the flour whisking the flour all the while until it is fully incorporated and becomes a roux (a smooth paste).
3. To the roux, begin adding the warm milk a little at a time (about ¼ cup milk), whisking quickly all the while until smooth. After each addition of milk is incorporated, the mixture should become smooth and a bit thicker over time while constantly stirring. Add more milk and repeat the process until the two cups of milk have all been used. Add in the lemon juice and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper and a dash of ground nutmeg and stir to blend.
Note: You can always add more milk to thin the sauce out. This is sometimes needed if you let it simmer for a long while or needed to turn the stove heat off and then reheat the sauce later.
Below is a video showing how the sauce should appear during the cooking process.
4. Arrange the cooked carrots onto a serving platter and with a serving spoon, pour the sauce in a zig-zag design on top of the carrots.
Optional: Sprinkle finely minced parsley or chives on top of the sauced carrots.
The Crooked Ladle
Savor the taste
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