Sauce Soubise
Béchamel with slowly stewed onions, puréed smooth
Onions cooked in butter until they give up entirely, then puréed into béchamel. Sweet, pale and old-fashioned, and very good with lamb, veal or eggs.
The onions must not colour — this is a white sauce, and any browning shows.
Ingredients
- 3 large onions (about 1 1/2 pounds), thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup white rice (optional, the classical thickener)
- 2 cups Béchamel, hot (see Béchamel)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt and white pepper
- Freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a heavy pan over low heat. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt, cover, and sweat for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring now and then. They should collapse to a pale sweet mass without taking any colour.
- If using the rice, stir it in with the onions along with 1/2 cup water and cook, covered, until the rice is completely soft.
- Stir in the hot béchamel and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- Purée in a blender until perfectly smooth, then pass through a fine sieve.
- Return to the pan, stir in the cream, and season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
Notes
- The rice is Escoffier's thickener and gives a rounder texture than flour alone. It is optional.
- Excellent under a piece of roast lamb, or spooned over soft-boiled eggs.