Can I make bechamel sauce in this way?

[KimchiLaLa]

I can make bechamel sauce but I find the process boring and annoying. Make roux, add milk bit by bit etc. Can I try and do a cheese sauce for a quick dinner in the same way as I would a pot pie, ie stir flour through pasta (I know it will be sticky at first), mix milk in, let it thicken and cook and add cheese? Or total disaster?

No idea but I'm not sure I'd try it.
The flour might stick to the pasta and you'll end up with a broken pasta, sludgy mess.

I don’t know the answer to your question. I can’t see why not, but would the pasta not going very gloopy from having to stir very heavily to get at all the flour?

However, I’ve seen people on Instagram make mac and cheese by cooking pasta on boiling milk which thickens from the starch, then adding cheese at the end. Might be worth a try? I’d worry that there’d be an aftertaste of boiled milk.

You can make cheese sauce quickly in the microwave. I learned it from mumsnet. Put milk, flour, butter, nutmeg in a jug and zap for a minute, stop and whisk, repeat 3/4 times til thick, stir in cheese.

Your other way may work but I'm not sure about stirring flour into pasta. Reckon it'd go lumpy.

That's how my mum does it but tbh it always looks like a faff! Let me give it a go today and hopefully I'll change my mind/be proven wrong...my method does sound like it may end up being more trouble than it's worth.

I shove it all in together and whisk like mad, it turns out absolutely fine 😀

Was going to suggest what @OhmydearGod said. For cheese sauce I put the milk butter and flour into a pan together, heat while whisking continuously. You'll know when it's done. Season and add the cheese.

Should have added: heat on the hob, not microwave.

It's quicker to just stir a pack of basics cream cheese through pasta. Tastes different, obviously, but if it's time that's the issue, that's the best way.

I have done it with cornflour and milk (add pasta after) when I was away and could only get cornflour

It did not taste the same though - nothing does quite like doing it on the hob and cooking the flour and butter out first

I always melt butter add flour cook for couple of minutes, add milk in one go ,use hand held blender to combine all , cook for further 2 minutes Job done no lumps or hassle .

Boil pasta, drain add butter and stir to coat add flour then milk and cheese.
Speedy!

I find if I just add the flour and butter rather than making a roux the sauce always tastes a bit floury, however long I cook it for.

I have tried cooking the macaroni in milk and it didn't taste of burnt milk at all.

There's some quick cheesy pasta here, including the one I use where you cook the pasta in the milk. It's really easy. If you use an ovenproof pan to boil the pasta then you will only have one pan to wash up too.

The tastiest way to do it is the proper way.

However, yes you can do it in the way you suggest.

Cook pasta ever so fractionally under. Add butter and melt. Mix in flour which mixes with the butter and stops the pasta going gloopy. Then add milk and mix in. It instantly thickens and you add cheese. It's a good substitute for the real thing if you're pushed for time. It's not the solution for every occasion.

My other trick is to make it the proper way but microwave the milk separately first so that it's hot and is faster to stir in.

I just stick the milk, flour and butter in the pans and stir with a wooden spoon on a high heat. It has to bubble for a couple of minutes once it comes to the boil. Then turn off the heat and stir in the cheese.

Did you know you can buy frozen bechamel sauce? It's a revelation! Just nuke in the microwave with grated cheese and some nutmeg.

Bisto do a white sauce. So lazy but so easy.

I find the best shortcut is to do the roux but add all the liquid together and blitz with a stick blender,then let it bubble to cook off the flour.

But the very easiest way I've found uses an instant pot - basically you pressure cook the pasta in stock, with quantities that mean you up with the pasta in a small quantity of stock that is full of starch from the pasta (which will thicken your sauce instead of the flour) . Then you just stir in cheese, sour cream and mustard, or whatever, and gently warm through. Delicious and so easy!