Croque madame

Name: Croque madame
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 30g of butter; 30g of plain flour, (2 tbsp); 200ml of whole milk; nutmeg; 20g of Parmesan, finely grated; 40g of Gruyère, finely grated; 8 slices of sourdough bread; 4 tbsp of Dijon mustard; 8 slices of ham, French, baked; 180g of Gruyère, finely grated; 4 eggs; truffle salt, for the eggs

by Nancy Anne Harbord

Item 1 of 1

Main
easy
4
45 minutes

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This croque madame recipe is a classic sandwich, a true cheese-fest for the discerning toastie lover. Many love the eggless version of this dish – the croque monsieur – but what dishes can't be improved with a fried egg on top?

First published in 2016

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A croque madame is a very special kind of sandwich. A sandwich to take time over. A sandwich to share.

They don’t make them like this anymore.

There are so many delicious layers to a croque madame. One of these layers might be enough for an everyday sandwich, but this feast just keeps on adding.

It starts with a ham and cheese sandwich – layers of baked French ham, nutty Gruyère cheese and a little Dijon mustard, all extremely tasty. Next, the sandwich is fried in butter until crisp, golden and very melty. But we have not finished yet.

A thick, creamy, milky béchamel, flavoured with yet more Gruyère and perhaps a little Parmesan, is spooned generously on top. This is, of course, sprinkled with yet more cheese, before being grilled until caramelised and bubbly.

Finally, as if that wasn’t enough, a runny fried egg is slid on top.

Now you can eat.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Gruyère and Parmesan béchamel

30g of butter
30g of plain flour, (2 tbsp)
200ml of whole milk
nutmeg
20g of Parmesan, finely grated
40g of Gruyère, finely grated

Croque madame sandwich

8 slices of sourdough bread
4 tbsp of Dijon mustard
8 slices of ham, French, baked
180g of Gruyère, finely grated
4 eggs
truffle salt, for the eggs

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Method

To begin, make the béchamel. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes. Add the milk and whisk until smooth and starting to thicken

Continue cooking for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently, until very thick and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Scrape in the nutmeg, stir in the cheeses until melted and set aside while you prepare the rest of the sandwich

Making 4 sandwiches, layer 1 slice of sourdough, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 2 slices of ham, 25g of the grated Gruyère and top with another slice of bread

Heat the butter in a large, heavy frying pan over medium heat. When the butter stops foaming, add the sandwiches, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook the sandwiches on both sides until golden brown and the cheeses have melted, about 2 minutes on each side

While the sandwiches are cooking, heat the grill. Divide the béchamel between the 4 sandwiches, spreading it over one of the toasted sides. Sprinkle over the last of the Gruyère and grill under very bubbly and lightly browned

While the sandwiches are grilling, fry the eggs – use the frying pan you made the sandwiches in, there might even be a little browned butter left in the pan from cooking the eggs. If not, add a little more butter or oil. Heat the pan to medium hot, add the eggs, cover and turn off the heat

Leave the eggs to gently steam-fry in the residual heat. The eggs are done when the top of the white is cooked, but the yolk is still very runny – about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the yolks with truffle salt and serve atop the sandwiches

First published in 2016

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Nancy Anne Harbord

Specialising in vegetarian food, Nancy has cooked her way around Europe and now writes full time for publications and her blog, Delicious from Scratch.

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