Croque Monsieur

For the best result, use a good-quality sliced white bread. This is often difficult to find in a supermarket, so buy a loaf from a bakery and slice it yourself. We use ‘pain de mie’, a white loaf made with milk and butter.

Ingredients

• butter
• 2 slices of bread
• small quantity of béchamel sauce
• 1 slice ham
• Dijon mustard
• grated Emmental cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly butter one side of one slice of bread and place it, buttered side down, on an oven tray.

Spread the side facing up with a thin layer of béchamel sauce and place a slice of ham on the béchamel. Spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on the ham.

Sprinkle with cheese and put the other slice of bread on top. Gently press together. Spread more béchamel on top of the bread, and sprinkle with more cheese.

Bake until both sides are golden and the edges are looking crunchy. Eat at once.

We often serve mini Croques Monsieur as nibbles with a drink. Simply cut off the crusts and cut each Croque Monsieur in four.