Blanquette de Veau
Veal in a White Cream Sauce
The name comes from blanc, white. Nothing in a blanquette is allowed to brown: the veal is simmered gently, the sauce is thickened with a pale roux and finished with cream and egg yolk, and the whole dish arrives ivory-coloured with white rice. It is gentler than any other French stew.
Blanquette came third in the 2025 Ipsos poll of the dishes that best represent France.
The Paris chef's recipe read uses 900 g of veal from three cuts, simmered for about an hour and a half with carrots, clove-studded onions, leek and celery. Mushrooms and small onions are cooked separately in some of the broth. A roux of 40 g each of butter and flour is let down with broth and 200 g of cream, and an egg yolk mixed with cream goes in just before serving. It is served with rice.
Ingredients
For the veal
- 900 g rose veal shoulder, cut into 4 cm pieces
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut into thick slices
- 2 onions, peeled, each studded with 1 clove
- 2 leeks, white parts only
- 1/2 celery stick
- 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley stalks)
- Fine sea salt
For the garnish and sauce
- 150 g button mushrooms, quartered
- 100 g pearl onions or small shallots, peeled
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 40 g plain flour
- 200 ml whipping cream
- 1 egg yolk
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- White pepper
- Chopped parsley and plain boiled rice, to serve
Method
- Simmer the veal Put the veal in a large casserole, cover with cold water and bring slowly to the boil. Skim well. Add the carrots, onions, leeks, celery, bouquet garni and 1 tsp salt. Simmer very gently, partly covered, for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat is tender.
- Cook the garnish Ladle 300 ml of the broth into a small pan and simmer the pearl onions in it for 10 minutes, then add the mushrooms for 5 minutes more. Drain, keeping the liquid.
- Strain Lift the veal and carrots into a bowl and cover. Strain the broth; you need about 600 ml, including the liquid from the garnish. Discard the onions, leek, celery and bouquet garni.
- Make the sauce Melt the butter in the cleaned casserole, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes without colouring. Whisk in the 600 ml of hot broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 150 ml of the cream and simmer for 5 minutes more, until it coats a spoon.
- Finish Return the veal, carrots, mushrooms and onions to the sauce and heat through. Mix the egg yolk with the remaining cream and the lemon juice, take the casserole off the heat and stir it in. Do not let it boil again. Season with salt and white pepper, scatter with parsley and serve with rice.
Once the egg yolk is in, the sauce must not boil or it will curdle.