29 bechamel recipes

Pasta tossed with homemade basil pesto, a light olive oil bechamel, sun-dried tomatoes, and toasted breadcrumbs. A layered Italian pasta with three sauces in one bowl.

Sauce Aurore (Aurora sauce) made from a silky bechamel base with tomato paste stirred in for a blush-pink French classic. Seven ingredients, one saucepan, about 15 minutes.

Traditional Greek moussaka with layers of fried eggplant, potatoes, and ground beef topped with a nutmeg-spiced bechamel sauce with Romano cheese.

Hunkar begendi, a classic Turkish dish of smoked eggplant folded into a creamy bechamel sauce with mozzarella and nutmeg. Smoky, silky, and rich from charring the eggplant whole.

Italian sausage fettuccine with hot Italian sausage, onions, and a silky bechamel cream sauce. A weeknight spicy-creamy pasta that's ready in 40 minutes.

Individual baked lasagnas layered with fresh pasta, crisp-tender asparagus, and a pesto-bechamel sauce, topped with golden breadcrumbs. A light, springy green lasagna baked in single gratin dishes.

Australian savoury choux pastry puffs filled with a béchamel-style mixture and salmon, chicken, shrimp or asparagus. Elegant French-inspired party appetizer.

Granny's ham and potato gratin for a crowd layers parboiled potatoes, diced ham, and Swiss cheese with a mustard-garlic bechamel. Feeds 24, bakes in under an hour, and can be assembled a day ahead.

Dairy-free spinach pizza on split pita crusts with a nutritional yeast béchamel, sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and Roma tomatoes. Fast weeknight vegan individual pizzas.

Jerusalem artichoke gratin layered under a creamy goat cheese bechamel, dusted with breadcrumbs and baked golden for a French bistro side dish that comes together in an hour.

Creamy leek soup blends sauteed leeks and onion with vegetable stock, then enriches with a butter-flour-milk-cream bechamel. Smooth, silky pureed soup for a cool-weather starter or light lunch.

Sausage-stuffed mushrooms: caps filled with hot Italian sausage seasoned with fennel and red pepper, bound with a creamy bechamel, studded with olives and topped with Parmesan, then baked until bubbling and browned. A standout party appetizer.

Cream of corn soup builds a classic milk-based bechamel with butter, flour, and minced onion, then folds in sweet corn and celery leaves. A simple, vegetarian comfort soup ready in 40 minutes.