Recipe: Croque-monsieur

Name: Croque-monsieur
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 slices of soft white bread; 2.8 oz (80 g) of Gruyère cheese slices; 2 thin slices of lean York ham; butter

By chef patrick Asfaux 4.9/5 (9 reviews) · 🍳 4 made it

Prep 5 min

Cook 10 min

Total 15 min

Servings 2 serv.

The first sandwich served under the name "croque-monsieur" appeared on the menu of a grand café on Boulevard des Capucines in Paris in 1910. 80 g of Gruyère per sandwich, that's the right amount so the cheese melts without spilling over. Count on 8 to 10 minutes in the oven at 190 °C in total, flipping halfway through. And yes, a fried egg on top makes all the difference: it becomes a croque-madame, that's a whole other level.

Ingredients for 2 servings

Adjust for

servings

4 slices of soft white bread
2.8 oz (80 g) of Gruyère cheese slices
2 thin slices of lean York ham
butter

Step-by-step directions

1 Butter and lightly brown two toasts of soft white bread on one side.

2 Place Gruyère cheese slices on the browned side of one toast, add a slice of lean York ham on top, then add more Gruyère cheese slices, and finally place the second toast on top.

3 Press lightly on the whole thing and put this sandwich in a sandwich maker or a pan where you've melted some lightly browned butter.

4 Put in a hot oven at 375°F (190 °C), flipping from time to time, then trim the edges and serve cut in half diagonally. That's the classic recipe, and we all have a toaster at home that will let us make delicious croque-monsieurs. Keep in mind that when this croque-monsieur is topped with a fried egg, it becomes a croque-madame. Now it's up to you to create new variations, for example: cooked chicken breast and cheese spread, or sautéed apple slices and black pudding, or even with salt cod spread and tomato slices. The best combo staying with apple slices and sautéed duck foie gras. And even as a dessert version: bananas and chocolate squares, pineapple chunks and amber rum, etc.

A chef's advice

In Belgium, the croque-monsieur is served with fries and a special sauce, half ketchup half mayonnaise. On the French side, some cafés add a slice of béchamel between the ham and Gruyère. In French-speaking Switzerland, it's never called a croque-monsieur: it's a "pan bagnat chaud" and they slip a thin tomato slice inside. Everyone has their own way.