Croque Monsieur

There are hundreds of versions and recipes for this classic French toasted sandwich. After much taste testing all around the world and experimenting and taste testing at home, this has become our version. Quite a few versions stipulate using brioche or plain sandwich bread for Croque Monsieur but we prefer the crunch and the substance of a genuine sourdough.

This recipe is for two hot, melting and very tasty sandwiches.

Ingredients

Four medium thick slices of sourdough bread

100ml thick béchamel sauce

2 tbsp Dijon mustard (optional)

150gm leg ham

120gm gruyere cheese sliced

30gm butter

Method

Lay the slices of bread out on a cutting board.

If using the Dijon Mustard, spread over one side of each slice.

Spread the béchamel evenly over the mustard or directly on to each slice.

Place the ham on to the béchamel of one side of each sandwich.

Place slices of gruyere on top of the ham then top with the other side of the sandwich.

Butter both sides of each sandwich. At this stage you can wrap the sandwiches in cling wrap to cook later.

Heat a frypan large enough to take the sandwiches, sandwich maker or the hotplate of a covered bbq. This is our preferred method.

When hot, cook the sandwiches on both sides until brown, crisp and melting. If you are not using a sandwich press place a second heavy frypan on top as the sandwich cooks to press it together.

If you have refrigerated the croque before cooking microwave for thirty seconds to ensure the cheese will melt or preheat your oven to 200C. If the sandwich is brown but not melting after cooking, five minutes in your hot oven will finish it off nicely.