Recipe idea
Real Parsley Sauce
From Hugh Fearnsley Whittingstall – ‘River Cottage Cookbook’
He says – ‘Good parsley sauce is hard to find but easy to make. The secret is to flavour the mild for the béchamel sauce with bay leaf and veg.’
1 carrot
½ onion
1 celery stick
1 bay leaf
500ml full cream milk
50g butter
50g plain flour
A good bunch of parsley (100g approx when stripped) chopped
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Grate the veg and place them in a saucepan with the bay leaf and milk. Bring to the boil, then take the pan off the heat and leave to infuse for about an hour. Strain out the veg and bay leaf.
Melt the butter in another pan and stir in the flour. Cook the roux gently for a couple of mins, then whisk in the milk, a third at a time, to get a nice smooth sauce. Let it simmer very gently for 5 mins. If it is too thick, thin it with a little more hot milk. Finish just before serving, by stirring in the chopped parsley and seasoning to taste with salt & pepper.