I love a good grilled cheese. I mean what isn’t to love? Buttery, toasted bread with ooey gooey melted cheese, YUM. Well, we decided to take it up a notch and made a Croque Monsieur! If you aren’t familiar with this French dish, it’s basically a grilled ham + cheese sandwich topped with béchamel sauce and more cheese. It’s well, amazing.
Of course we are using Frick’s Quality Meats Smoked Ham to make it even more delicious. Make sure to check out our other two recipes made with their flawless products here and here.
A béchamel sauce is one of the “mother” sauces from the wonderful world over in France. It’s super easy to make but just takes a few steps! First make a roux, mixing together melted butter and flour. Then, you slowly add warm milk to it, whisking constantly. Keep whisking over heat until it’s nice and creamy and delicious.
Very Important. You should probably make your grilled cheese simultaneously as your sauce because it is best served super warm and melty. Or you can make your grilled cheese first and then pop it into the oven to keep it nice and toasty. It’s even more delicious because you have a nice and salty and yummy piece of Sliced Ham on there.
Uhh okay YUM. Pro tip – put your grilled cheese on a pan or something that you don’t mind getting a little messy. Then, pour the your béchamel sauce right on over top and swoon. Also, if you can’t tell from the steam, it’s super warm so be careful not to spill and burn yourself.
If you don’t eat dairy, I’m very sorry because we are still adding more cheese to the top of this Croque Monsieur! You typically use gruyere cheese but we used Havarti because it’s delicious and we do what we want. You can use a culinary torch or just toss it under a broiler to get it nice and toasty. Oh, AND if you toss a fried egg on there, it becomes a Croque Madame!
Okay, so the cheese and béchamel sauce are pretty amazing but I have to say that the Frick’s Sliced Ham takes it over the edge. Plus, you only need a few slices for this sandwich, so you have plenty for extra goodness for the whole week. If you don’t already, make sure to follow Frick’s Quality Meats over on Facebook and Instagram for some more recipe inspiration.
As always, tag us on social when you whip up this tasty fancy grilled cheese!
Croque Monsieur
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 slices favorite bread
- 6 slices white cheese like Gruyere or Havarti
- 4 slices Frick’s Quality Meats Sliced Ham
Instructions
- Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat. Prepare grilled cheese by buttering one side of each piece of bread. On non-buttered side, layer one slice of cheese and two pieces of sliced ham.
- Top with other piece of buttered bread and place sandwich in warm skillet, butter side down. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side until cheese is melty. You can either make the other sandwich in the same pan or make it after the first. Then, toss on a sheet pan and place in a warm oven (about 250 degrees F is fine).
- Prepare bechemel sauce while grilled cheese is cooking or staying warm in the oven. Warm milk in a small pot. In a separate pot, melt butter in a pot, then add flour whisking to combine.
- Gently add warm milk to cooked butter/flour, whisking constantly to combine. Bring to a boil to let it thicken. Then, let it simmer and cook for another 2-3 minutes until desired consistency.
- Remove grilled cheeses from oven then gently pour bechemel sauce over top. I suggest doing this on a sheet pan that can get a little messy.
- Then, top sandwiches with two more slices of cheese and use a culinary torch or the broiler to melt the cheese on top.
- Enjoy!
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