Sandwiches

Croque Monsieur

Start with a grilled cheese sandwich and give it a French twist. As in tangy alpine cheese. And a slice of smoky ham. Béchamel sauce. And butter—lots of butter. The result is croque monsieur—the classic sandwich served at cafés across France. Traditionally, croque monsieur would be cooked under a broiler, but it doesn’t take much rejiggering to adapt it to the griddle. The secret—heretical as it sounds—is to place the béchamel sauce inside the sandwich, not on top. You get the same buttery crust, melty cheese, and meaty ham. Note: For a quick, if unconventional croque monsieur, replace the béchamel sauce with mayonnaise (you’ll need 2 tablespoons per sandwich).

Croque Monsieur Recipe

Croque Monsieur

Recipe Notes

Yield: Makes 2 Sandwiches

Ingredients

3 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter in a chunk for the griddle
4 slices country-style white bread (the French would probably cut the crusts off—I don’t bother)
1/2 cup (120 ml) Béchamel Sauce (recipe follows)
4 ounces (115 g) thinly sliced smoked cooked ham (see What Else)
4 ounces (115 g) thinly sliced Gruyère cheese

You'll Also Need

A griddle dome

Recipe Steps

1: Butter all 4 slices of bread on one side and place them butter side down on a rimmed sheet pan. Slather the other side of each piece of bread with Béchamel Sauce. Lay sliced ham on top of 2 of the slices, followed by the Gruyère. Top with the remaining bread slices, butter side up.

2: Meanwhile, heat your griddle or plancha to medium. Impale the chunk of butter on a fork and butter an area of the griddle just large enough to hold the sandwiches.

3: Place the sandwiches on the griddle and top with a griddle dome. Cook until the sandwiches are sizzling and browned on both sides and the cheese in the center is melted, 3 to 6 minutes per side. Use an offset spatula—and a lot of care—to turn them. And that, mes amis, is how this American makes a croque monsieur.

Recipe Tips

What Else: This simple sandwich is all about the quality of its ingredients. To start, you need a dense country-style white bread, known in France as pain de mie, and sometimes called a Pullman loaf stateside. For an unconventional twist, use brioche. The ham should be smoked. (The French favor boiled or baked ham, but smoked delivers more flavor.) Hint—if it comes in perfectly square or round slices, it’s a pressed ham product, not real ham. Another hint: The cheese should be Gruyère—preferably cave-aged, which has an intensity of flavor presliced “Swiss” cheese can only dream of.

>Béchamel Sauce Recipe

MAKES ½ CUP (120 ML)
Béchamel sauce is one of the defining flavors and textures of croque monsieur. Here’s how you make it.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup (120 ml) whole milk or half-and-half
Coarse salt (sea or kosher) and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook until sizzling but not brown, 1 minute. Off the heat, whisk in the milk in a thin stream. Return the mixture to the heat and bring to a boil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, whisking steadily. The sauce will thicken. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Let the béchamel sauce cool to room temperature before spreading on the bread.