Croque monsieur, French toast with lots of cheese (and ham)

Delicious and tasty: here is the French toast par excellence, the croque monsieur. Let's find out the original recipe and some tasty easy variations.

More than just toasty, tastier than a sandwich: the croque monsieur is a true French delight. A substantial snack or a tasty and quick lunch: it is a toast with ham and cheese and with the characteristic of being literally covered in cheese, béchamel and then gratin before being served.

For those who are not satisfied with a simple sandwich, here is the original recipe for croque monsieur, which, if necessary, instead of sandwich bread, can also be prepared with bread to make it more rustic and crunchy in the bite. A prominent element is gruyère , a cheese that the French use in many of their preparations and which can be replaced by Emmental.

Preparation of the croque monsieur

1. Start with the preparation of the béchamel. Heat the milk in a saucepan, put the flour and 15 g of butter in a second saucepan, put over low heat and melt everything, stirring with a whisk so that no lumps are formed .
2. When the mixture begins to brown (you will have obtained the roux) slowly add the hot milk while continuing to mix.
3. Once all the liquid has been added, add salt to taste and continue cooking, stirring until it thickens well.
4. Finish with grated nutmeg to taste and let it cool away from the heat.
5. Now grate 100 g of gruyere and start assembling the croque monsieur toast.
6. Take two slices of bread, butter one side and add 2 tablespoons of béchamel on top.
7. Add two slices of cooked ham and the grated Gruyere to each one, keeping two handfuls aside.
8. Now close the sandwich with the other two slices of bread, spread the butter over it again and add another 2 tablespoons of béchamel each (so as to finish it) as well as what remains of the grated cheese.
9. Now transfer the stuffed toasts onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and put the sandwich in the oven for about 15 minutes at 200°C in a static oven until an inviting crust has formed on the surface, then serve it hot!

storage

We recommend consuming the French toast with cheese at the moment , warmed up it will not have the same enveloping taste we assure you!

The most famous variants of the croque monsieur and meaning of the name

Before listing the variations of this traditional French dish, known all over the world, we want to start from the story which, alas, is not very clear. It seems to have been born in Paris in the early 1900s , but it is not clear who was the first to prepare it and give it this particular name which literally means to bite (croque) sir (monsieur).

From this first classic version however, many others were born, more or less rich and appreciated. There is in fact his right arm, the croque madame made with the addition of a fried egg on top of the sandwich. Not to mention the croque provençal with the addition of tomato, the croque norvégien which replaces the ham with smoked salmon, and other croques which take their names according to the cheese that is used instead of gruyere.