When I was in France, I fell in love with the Croque-Monsieur sandwich, and I tried to find a recipe that would allow me to make its deliciousness myself. This is that recipe. The ingredients:
- White loaf bread, like French or Italian, sliced (NOT sourdough)
- Sliced ham
- Dijon mustard
- Gruyère cheese, 6 oz, grated
- Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup, grated
- Milk, 1.5 cups
- Flour, 2 tablespoons
- Butter, 2 tablespoons
- Salt (to taste)
- Black pepper (to taste)
- Nutmeg (to taste)
You may find that the Gruyère cheese is a bit hard to find. And expensive. We got ours at Aldi, where it’s tolerable.
First, grate the cheeses, slice the bread, etc etc.
Then put the butter in the pan and melt over low heat. We’re going to make a béchamel sauce with which to coat the sandwiches.
Meanwhile, you can start toasting some bread.
Melt the butter until it just starts to bubble. Then add the flour and whisk until smooth.
Slowly add the milk, whisking continuously, until it thickens.
Remove from the heat, add your salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and then stir in the parmesan and 1/4 cup of the Gruyère. They should melt , even though heat is no longer being applied, and further thicken up the sauce.
Next, coat the toasted bread with a thin layer of mustard.
Then add ham, and before putting the two halves of the sandwich together, add in some of the grated Gruyère.
Add more of the Gruyère on top, and then also spoon over with a healthy portion of the sauce.
Finally, bake for five minutes at 400 degrees, and then broil for an additional 3-5 minutes, until the cheese topping is bubbly and browned. Then, enjoy!