A Croque Monsieur is a typical sandwich with baked ham, Gruyere cheese and béchamel sauce, commonly served in French cafés and bars since 1910. Although many variations exist, this is the original recipe with béchamel sauce!
Ingredients (for 2)
- 4 slices sandwich bread
- ham (about 100 gr. or 3 oz.)
- Gruyere cheese (about 60 gr. or 2 oz.)
- 3 tbsp wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp mustard
- Parmesan cheese (about 60 gr. or 2 oz.)
- 2 tbsp butter
- salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C)
- Grate or thinly chop the Gruyere cheese and set aside
- Prepare the béchamel sauce: take a saucepan and melt butter at medium/low heat, paying attention it doesn’t turn brown
- When the butter has melted, stir in the flour and continue stirring until smooth and with a sandy but not brown color (about 3-4 minutes)
- Start to gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly
- As the sauce starts to thicken, add more milk, calibrating the quantity to get to the desired thickness
- After a few minutes, your sauce will get glossy, smooth and thick
- Season with nutmeg and salt, add grated parmesan cheese, stir and set aside
- Place the sandwich slices on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, 1-2 minutes a side, until lightly toasted
- Remove from oven and brush half of the toasted slices with mustard
- Add the baked ham slices and 2/3 of Gruyere cheese
- Top with the other toasted bread slices
- Turn on the broiler in the oven and place the sandwich back on the baking sheet
- Pour the sauce over the sandwich and sprinkle the remaining Gruyere cheese on top
- Broil for 3 minutes or until cheese on top bubbles and is lightly browned
Tips from the Chef
- To avoid curdling the flour, remove the saucepan from the heat before adding any more, whisk fast and continuously, and then return to heat
- If you add a fried egg on top of the sandwich you will get the famous “Croque Madame”
Cambooza 