Traditional Parisian Croque Monsieur Recipe
The authentic French ham and grilled cheese sandwich recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 large slices of white bread ("pain de mie")
- 8 thin slices of Emmental cheese
- 2 large slices of white Paris ham
- 50 g butter
- 1 pinch pepper
- 4 large button mushrooms
For the béchamel:
- 20 g butter
- 20 g flour
- 25 cl milk
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
Instructions
Béchamel sauce:
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring well until the mixture is smooth. Cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened. Season with a little bit of salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Set aside while you make the sandwiches, or make the sauce up to 1 week in advance.
Assemble sandwiches:
- Generously spread the bread slices with the soft butter on one side (outside). And spread the other side of béchamel (inside side).
- Cut the ham to the size of the bread slices, and finely chop the mushrooms.
- Arrange on four slices of bread (bechamel side) a slice of Emmental, mushroom slices, ham, and finish with a slice of Emmental. Cover everything with the other slices of white bread (béchamel below).
- Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes in an oven preheated to 200°C / 392°F.