Croque-Madame
Croque-Madame is a French grilled cheese sandwich with ham, bechamel sauce, and a sunny side egg on top. It is perfect for brunch!
- Prep time: 30 min
- Makes: 4
- Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients
- 8
- slices of bread
- 2 tsp
- butter
- 8
- large slices of ham, thin
- 1 cup / 250 ml
- grated mozzarella
- 1 tbsp
- olive oil
- 4
- Nestlaid shell eggs, large
- Bechamel:
- 1/3 cup / 75 ml
- all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup / 75 ml
- butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup / 175 ml
- milk
- pinch
- salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 420F.
On a lined baking sheet, place 4 bread slices and spread half a teaspoon of butter on each. Add 2 slices of ham to each buttered bread. Set aside.
In a pot, on low to medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir well, you will get a paste, this is your roux.
Add the milk gradually and keep stirring until your bechamel becomes velvety and has a consistency thicker than a sauce or gravy.
Spread a tablespoon of bechamel on top of each ham/bread.
Top with the 4 other slices of bread to complete the sandwich and add another tablespoon of bechamel on the bread. If you have a little bit of bechamel left, spread a little bit more on each bread so the top slice is fully covered with bechamel.
Lastly, sprinkle with the grated cheese (about a quarter of a cup for each sandwich)
Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
While your croque-monsieur is in the oven, make 4 sunny side eggs: on medium-low, in a hot pan, pour some olive oil and crack the eggs. If your pan is not big enough, do 2 at a time. Add a pinch of salt on each.
Once the croque-monsieur are ready, take them out of the oven and add the sunny side eggs on top each of them: Bonjour Croque-Madame!
Tips
The bechamel will come together more easily if you pour warm milk over your roux. Just heat it up for 20 seconds in the microwave.
Tips: Shell Eggs
When separating eggs for meringues, have three bowls handy; one for the whites, one for the yolks and one for any that might break.