Ah, this is a fantastic French sandwich, the Croque Monsieur! This classic French bistro dish is also known as a hot ham and cheese sandwich, and it’s incredibly common in French cafés. Basically, it’s a grilled sandwich with béchamel sauce that gets beautifully golden and bubbly under the broiler, simple and absolutely delicious! But no, no, this isn’t just any ordinary sandwich; it’s surprisingly versatile since you can use different types of breads, cheeses, and hams. You can make it plain and easy for a quick meal, or go all gourmet with smoked hams, special cheeses, and artisan bread.
Before perfecting this recipe, I experimented with quite a few variations until I found this winner. I’ll share more tips below, but in general, to make a delicious croque monsieur, it’s preferable to use a bread somewhere between sandwich bread and an all grain bread. I tried it with other harder, more rustic breads, and while they’re delicious, it becomes a bit like eating a regular grilled sandwich, it gets difficult to eat if you use bread that’s too rustic or too dense, but the same goes if you go with a plain white bread it’s too soft too mushy, it’s that nice balance and firmness that you want.
Can I call the Croque-Monsieur the “Crunchy French”? The word “croque” comes from the French verb “croquer,” which means crunchy or to bite something crispy, and monsieur… well, we all know that one! So the translation is something like “Crunchy Gentleman” ;D Wait… no? Captain Crunchy?!? 😛 hehehe Let’s get to the recipe!
Authentic Homemade French Bistro Croque Monsieur
This sandwich may cause uncontrollable ...mmm... sounds and the sudden urge to speak with a French accent! Side effects also include feeling incredibly sophisticated while eating what is essentially fancy french grilled cheese heheheh.
Ingredients
- Bread – 6 slices (rustic bread with grains)
- Emmental Cheese – 6 slices (I bought a block of cheese)
- Gouda Cheese – to taste (for sprinkling)
- Smoked Ham – 6 slices
- Unsalted Butter – 3 tablespoons
- Flour – 3 tablespoons
- Milk – 500ml (Semi-skimmed)
- Nutmeg – A pinch
- Pepper – A pinch
- Salt – A pinch
Directions
- Start by preparing the béchamel sauce. Start by adding the butter and flour to a small saucepan, place over medium-low heat, and mix until it forms a paste or ball of dough.
- While the dough is cooking, heat the milk in a separate saucepan or in the microwave.
- Season the dough with a pinch of salt and nutmeg.
- Then add a little hot milk and mix. When it has been absorbed, add more milk, stirring constantly, until all the milk has been absorbed. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, and nutmeg to your liking, then set aside, you want a creamy béchamel that will stick well to the bread.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Brush 3 slices with béchamel sauce, then add the Emmental cheese and ham, followed by another slice of bread brushed with more béchamel sauce. Place the slice with the béchamel sauce on the bottom, then brush the top with more béchamel sauce and finally sprinkle with a pinch of grated Gouda cheese on top. Repeat two more times for the 3 sandwiches.
- Take them all to the oven to bake until golden brown and that’s it, ready to serve and of course…. bon appétit!!!! ;D
Stick with a medium-density bread that won’t get too soggy but also won’t be impossible to bite through. Think a thicker brioche, challah, or a good quality sandwich bread rather than crusty baguette or plain white bread.
You can prepare the béchamel sauce ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Just reheat gently and thin with a little milk if needed before assembling and yes you can buy already made béchamel, but It’s just not that yummy and rich as homemade.
While Emmental is traditional, Gruyère works beautifully too. For the topping, any good melting cheese like Swiss or even a sharp cheddar will do the trick, but you can use whatever cheese or cheeses you like best, note that even in French bistros there is a lot of variation on what each places put on their croque monsieur.
For extra crispiness, you can butter the outside of the bread slices before assembling, just like you would for a regular grilled cheese.
Also, there is a sister recipe called Croque Madame, it’s exactly the same thing, just in the end you put a fried sunny side egg on top, that’s it! ;D
This recipe for Authentic Homemade French Bistro Croque Monsieur was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Sandes Francesa Croque Monsieur foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.
Nutrition
Per Serving: 927 calories; 55 g fat; 66 g carbohydrates; 46 g protein.Did you try this recipe?
Let me know how it turned out for you! Are you more into simple sandwiches or do you like this kind of elaborate almost a meal type of sandwiches? Leave a comment below ;D
