My wife and I had the opportunity to travel to France and fell in love with this easy Croque Monsieur sandwich recipe and the Croque Madame. We’ve been trying to recreate the flavors of the classic ham and cheese ever since. I think the recipe below is pretty close to some of the ones we experienced in France. The sandwich first appeared on French cafe menus around 1918 as a quick, easy snack.
This recipe makes two large sandwiches. I made a Croque Madame with half and Croque Monsieur with the other half. The difference is the Croque Madame is topped with an over-easy egg so that the yolk can run over the top and sides. Whichever you choose, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this French ham and cheese.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- 3 T. of butter (1 T for the béchamel sauce and 2 T. melted for brushing on the bread)
- 1 T. all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole milk, warm
- 1 1/4 cup Gruyère cheese, grated
- 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 4 large slices of good French or Italian bread about 1/2 inch thick
- 2 large slices of quality ham, large enough to cover the slices of bread
- Dijon mustard
- nutmeg, salt, and pepper
Here’s how to put it all together:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
First, make the béchamel sauce:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 T. of butter until the butter begins to foam.
- Next, add the flour, quickly stirring so that the mixture doesn’t burn. Stir and cook the mixture until a smooth consistency. It only takes a minute or two.
- Slowly add the warm milk, whisking, and cook until thick. Be sure to whisk continually so the sauce doesn’t stick to the pan’s bottom or get lumpy.
- Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Grate a dash of fresh nutmeg using a microplane into the sauce
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. I actually didn’t add much salt with all of the cheese.
- Stir in 1/4 cup of Gruyère and the Parmesan cheese and set aside
Assembling the sandwich:
- Lay the slices of bread, buttered on both sides, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- Toast the bread in the oven on both side of the bread until lightly browned
- Brush a light layer of Dijon mustard on two of the bread slices
- Top each with the slices of ham
- Put 1/2 cup (total) of Gruyère on the ham slices.
- Top each with the remaining two slices of bread
- Spoon béchamel sauce on top of the bread slices to cover
- Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère cheese
Bake at 400 degrees F. for about 6 to 8 minutes. Then turn the oven to broil and cook for another few minutes until the cheese is lightly browned and melted. Please check on the sandwich often, so it doesn’t get overly brown or burnt.
While the sandwiches are in the oven, if you want a croque-madame, fry in butter two over-easy eggs. When the sandwiches are done, top with the egg, serve with Frites (french fries), and enjoy!
Let me know if you’ve found other ways to make this classic French ham and cheese.
