Oil-based roux for butter-free sauces

Recently I've taken a liking to whole wheat pasta, and I've tried various white sauces with it. I was concerned that traditional white sauces have fifteen grams of butter per serving, and in this post I present my simple oil-based alternative, which greatly reduces the amount of saturated fat.


Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) oil
• 15 g plain white flour
• 150 ml milk

Recipe:

1. Pour the oil into a non-stick saucepan
2. Add the flour, and stir to combine into a roux (I use a French whisk to stir)
3. Heat the roux until it starts to bubble, and then remove the pan from the heat
4. Add about a tablespoon of milk and stir vigorously to combine; repeat until about half the milk has been added
5. Stir in the rest of the milk
6. Return the pan to the heat and stir regularly
7. Once the sauce starts to boil, cook it for a further two minutes
8. Serve

I used olive oil for the sauce in the photograph, but you may want to use a flavourless oil if you are making anything other than a plain white sauce.