Gratin of ham rolls with sauce aurore

Make a white roux: melt the butter in a pan over low heat, add all the flour, mix well and cook on very low heat three minutes at most.

Take the roux off the heat and leave it to cool completely. To speed it up, stand the pan in a little cold water.

Infuse the milk: warm the whole milk slowly over low heat with thyme, a small bay leaf and a small onion stuck with a clove.

Add two pinches of salt and no pepper.

Once the milk is hot, dissolve a quarter to half a chicken stock cube in it and cook one to two minutes more, then taste for salt and turn off the heat.

With the heat off, strain some of the warm milk onto the cold roux and work it in with a flat whisk, scraping the bottom, until thick and smooth, then pour in the rest of the milk.

Turn the heat to low and bring gently to the boil while whisking. When the first bubbles appear the bechamel is at gratin thickness, which is thicker than usual.

Stir in 50 ml of cream, up to 100 ml, for silkiness and consistency. This makes the sauce creme.

Add tomato sauce a little at a time until the sauce turns a pinkish sunset colour. Do not add so much that it tastes of tomato. Reduce a little more if wanted.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, fan-forced with the top grill element on.

Butter a large baking dish and spread a little sauce over the bottom. Use a dish big enough to leave space at the sides so the ham crisps instead of boiling in sauce.

Lay the ham rolls in with a gap between them, leaving room at the sides, then spoon warm sauce over the top of each one. No extra seasoning.

Cover with thickly grated cheese.

Bake about 15 minutes until crisp. It took 20 minutes with the heat raised to 220 degrees Celsius.

Serve on a plate of pasta with one or two ham rolls and plenty of sauce.