Croque Monsieur Sandwiches

I finally made a Croque Monsieur at home!!  So exciting.  The Croque Monsieur is a French sandwich containing ham and cheese, and also a Bechamel (white) sauce.  In the recipe I made, you spread a layer of Bechamel inside the sandwich and also a layer on top.  Then you top that with cheese and bake it in the oven until hot enough.  This recipe is in grams; I used my kitchen scale.  Also, I found I had enough Bechamel to make 3 sandwiches with this recipe. I used both sliced and grated cheese for this recipe- what I had on hand. On the original website there's a video showing you how to make these- I found this helpful before starting. 

Take some rustic bread, add a layer of Bechamel, top with cheese, add ham. Add a second slice of bread, then top that with Bechamel and more cheese.

Croque Monsieur Sandwiches
adapted from Recetas de Sbieta
Makes 2 sandwiches (increase bread, ham and cheese to make 3.  Don't have to increase Bechamel to make 3)

Sliced bread - 4 slices
grated cheese (Gruyere or Swiss) - 100 g
ham- 4 slices
mustard - to taste

BECHAMEL:
white flour - 20 g
butter - 20 g
milk - 250 ml
garlic - 1 clove
bay leaf - 1 leaf
nutmeg - 1 pinch
Dijon mustard - 1 tsp.
salt - to taste

1.  Turn on the oven at 225 ° C. 

2.  Peel 1 clove of garlic.  To make the béchamel put the pan over medium heat. Cut 20 g of butter and place it into a small skillet or saucepan. Once the butter is melted add the flour. Sauté the flour 1 - 2 minutes. Add 1 pinch of salt. While whisking, pour in 250 ml of cold milk. Whisk very well. Add 1 bay leaf and 1 clove of peeled garlic. Add 1 pinch of nutmeg. Add a 1 tsp. mustard. Cook the sauce until it thickens. Remove the bay leaf and garlic.

3.  Grate 100 g of cheese.  Place 4 slices of bread on a baking sheet.  Put it in the oven 2 minutes on each side. It is so that it dries a little on the outside and does not soften when we put the bechamel on top.

4.  Spread one slice of each sandwich with a little mustard, if desired. Spread the same slices with the béchamel. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Put the ham on top. Place a piece of bread on top; forming the sandwich. Top the sandwiches with bechamel and grated cheese.

5.  Place them in the oven. Bake them 10 minutes or until the cheese is a little browned. Serve right away.

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