A garlicy white sauce suitable for pizza or a really think kind of alfredo.

What You’ll Need

• 4 Tablespoons butter (½ stick)
• 4 Tablespoons flour
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ½ cups milk, cold
• 2 cup shredded Italian blend cheese (or just mozzarella)
• 1 Tablespoon shredded or grated Parmesan

What to Do

1. Melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic. Let the garlic steep into the melted butter for 30 seconds or so.
2. Add flour a little bit at a time and whisk into the melted butter. Whisk away those lumps! Whisk until the mix is smooth and bubbly. Congratulations, you’ve made a roux!
3. Remove from heat and stir in the milk a bit at a time. It will get pasty at first, but keeping adding and whisking until blended.
4. Return to heat and bring to a light boil, stirring constantly to avoid clumping and sticking on the bottom. Once bubbly with the boil, cook for another minute or until the sauce thickens noticeably. You’ll feel the thickening in the stir. Congratulations, you’ve made a béchamel sauce! That’s 1 of 5 “mother sauces” in French cooking!
5. Stir in cheeses to melt.

At this point, you’ve got a delightfully creamy garlic sauce for a white pizza. Go to town.

Want to cheat with some pasta? Add as much freshly-ground black pepper to the sauce as you like, put it on top of noodles, and call it “alfredo.” It is not technically alfredo—alfredo doesn’t use flour and uses heavy cream—but it’s close enough and tastes delicious.