It’s a Wednesday night, the fridge is half empty, and nobody feels like cooking for an hour. That is exactly where the egg gratin with béchamel comes in. Six eggs, some milk, butter, a bit of cheese — and forty minutes later, everyone is at the table.
Ingredients :
- The eggs — Six for four people — enough for the dish to be generous, but not too many so that the béchamel remains the true protagonist. Size M or L, it doesn’t matter. What counts: they must be fresh so the whites hold up well when cut.
- Whole milk — Whole, not semi-skimmed. The difference in the texture of the béchamel is real: richer, more enveloping, it clings better to the eggs. Semi-skimmed gives a sauce that slides off instead of coating.
- Butter — No margarine, no oil. Butter melts differently, cooks differently, and smells differently. It’s what gives that nutty scent to the roux. Preferably unsalted to keep control over the salt levels.
- Grated cheese — Emmental is good, Comté is better. Its bolder taste stands up to the béchamel and gives a more complex crust. Gruyère if you have it, or a mix of the three. Avoid industrial pre-grated pizza cheese — it doesn’t really gratinate, it just melts into a dull mass.
