To call a croque monsieur a grilled ham and cheese is to vastly understate it, say the editors of America’s Test Kitchen in their latest collection, “Modern Bistro: Home Cooking Inspired by French Classics” (America’s Test Kitchen, $35).
The French bistro staple is a stacked, savory and cheese-laden beauty that typically comes together using a griddle-to-broiler method. But this recipe is designed to make four sandwiches at once in the oven. And while most croque monsieur recipes use béchamel sauce with grated gruyère, this one combines both to make a mornay sauce, with parmesan and nutmeg to boot. Yes, chef.
Croque Monsieur
Serves 4
SANDWICHES
8 slices hearty white sandwich bread
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
12 ounces thinly sliced Black Forest deli ham
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (1 cup)
MORNAY SAUCE
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (1 cup)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg
DIRECTIONS
For the sandwiches, adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray.
Brush bread on both sides with melted butter and place on prepared sheet. Bake until light golden brown on top, about 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and flip slices. Return to
oven and bake until golden brown on second side, about 3 minutes. Reserve 4 slices for sandwich tops; evenly space remaining 4 slices on sheet pan.
For the Mornay sauce, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and bring to boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and quickly whisk in Gruyère, Parmesan, salt, pepper and nutmeg until smooth.
Spread 1 tablespoon Mornay on each slice of toast on the sheet pan. Then, folding ham slices over themselves multiple times so they bunch up, divide ham evenly among slices of toast. Spread 2 tablespoons Mornay on 1 side of each reserved slice of toast and place slices Mornay-side down on top of ham.
Spread 2 tablespoons Mornay evenly over the top of each sandwich, making sure to completely cover the toast, including the edges (exposed edges can burn under the broiler). Sprinkle sandwiches with Parmesan, followed by Gruyère.
Bake until the cheese on top of the sandwiches is melted, about 5 minutes. Turn on broiler and broil until cheese bubbles across tops of sandwiches and edges are spotty brown, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
— From “Modern Bistro: Home Cooking Inspired by French Classics” (America’s Test Kitchen, $35)
