My Homemade Croque-Monsieur Recipe

Croque-monsieur sandwich

When I don't have time to cook or want to eat a quick and easy to make snack at home, croque-monsieur (French toasted sandwich) come in handy! This type of snack sandwich is made out of toasted or roasted bread, ham and cheese.

Here's my personal croque-monsieur recipe that you can make at home.

Ingredients to make this toasted ham and cheese sandwich (quantities are for 1 sandwich) :

 

• Sliced Gouda cheese
• Sliced ham
• Sliced bread
• Butter

Optional: fried egg and ketchup

Directions to prepare this French toast recipe:

Spread a tiny coat of butter

• Place 1 slice Gouda cheese and 1 slice ham between 2 slices bread
• Spread a tiny coat of butter on each external side of your sandwich
• Place in a sandwich toaster and leave until Gouda cheese melted and brown comes out brown. Alternatively, you can roast your sandwich in a non-stick pan.

If you like, you can open the sandwich after cooking and add some ketchup.

And you can turn your croque-monsieur into a delightful croque-madame by adding a fried egg on its top.

Put the sandwich in a toaster

Serve on a plate along with sliced pickels and tomato. I don't recommend serving with fries as it won't be a healthy snack nor an ideal snack when on a diet. 

Normally this type of snack sandwich is made using Emmenthal or Gruyere cheese; however, I find these too heavy and their strong taste ruins the overall savors of the sandwich. 

A note about the ingredients and materials used to prepare the recipe:

Farmer Gouda Cheese

The cheese I use to prepare those sandwiches is Gouda cheese. It is a Dutch cheese that can be found in different variations : from young to extra-aged cheese - the older is the cheese, the stronger is going to be the taste. 

My favorite type of cheese is the young Gouda cheese (4 weeks old), it works pretty well with this recipe and everybody at home loves the sandwiches made out of it - even the kids.

I also use sliced no-fat cooked ham but if you like to add a touch of uniqueness to your croque-monsieur sandwich, you can use smoked ham, honey roasted ham, etc. It is just going to provide your sandwich with an additional savor.

If you don't eat pork then, you can use sliced turkey. It works very well with this type of sandwiches.

As for the fat, I mostly use low-fat baking butter or minarin or even soy minarin. It allows me to reduce the ingestion of fat and, therefore, reduce my cholesterol.

Proctor-Silex Sandwich Maker

As a young housewife, I've received a sandwich toaster that included sandwich pockets, however, I definitely don't like it as it ruins the look of my toasted sandwiches and melted cheese escapes from all parts of the bread.

The Proctor-Silex sandwich maker to the left provides place for 2 sandwiches and won't crush my sandwich. The melted cheese would then stay where it should be and the sandwich will have a better look.

Therefore, I'm currently looking for the ideal sandwich toaster and, while writing this recipe, found it on Amazon : it is the one I dreamed of for so many years, very hard to find in my area. Luckily, the Internet does exist and I can now shop online.

When I prepare my croque-monsieur on the stove, which often happens as it provides it with a different taste, I always use a non-stick pan in order for my sandwich to be correctly roasted.

Bon appetit !

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