Bechamel sauce is widely used in baked vegetable and meat dishes, such as the classic Pastichio. It also is used as topping spread over zucchini or eggplant that has been stuffed with meat sauce.

Ingredients:

4 cups milk
2 bay leaves
8 tbsp butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp grated kefalotiri or parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preparation:

Heat the milk, bay leaves and allspice in a saucepan over low heat. Melt the butter in another saucepan, than add the flour and whisk for about 5 minutes until combined. Slowly ladle the hot milk into the flour mixture (discarding the bay leaves and allspice) and whisk constantly until the sauce thickens. Remove the saucepan from the heat and, when slightly cooked, stir in the cheese and nutmeg.

Makes 4 cups