On our recent trip to Paris we attempted to find the best croque monsieur in the city. We tried a number of croques that all had something unique about them, and now we’re back home and we’re going to try to combine our favorite parts of all of these sandwiches into our perfect croque monsieur. Check out our video below, or keep reading to learn how to make a great croque monsieur at home!

If you’re not familiar with it, a croque monsieur is a classic French sandwich filled with ham, cheese and a bechamel or mornay sauce. It’s salty, cheesy and very satisfying.

While in Paris we tried classic croques, vegetarian versions and even a truffled version. Today we’re going to combine our favorite parts of all of these that we tried to re-create a great croque monsieur at home.

To make your croque monsieur, begin by buttering both sides of your bread, and lightly toasting it. You can do this in the oven, but I like to do it in my cast iron pan. Remove the bread when it just starts to get some color, the sandwich is going to be finished in the oven so it will have the opportunity to get toasty and crisp at the end.

Next, you’re going to make the cheese sauce that will go on the inside and on top of the sandwich. Melt the butter in a pot on medium heat, then add the flour and whisk to combine. Then, slowly add the milk while whisking. Finally, add in about half of the grated cheese, and whisk it all together until you have a smooth sauce.

Now it’s time to assemble your sandwich. Spread a few spoonfuls of the sauce onto one slice of bread. Then, add some more grated cheese on top. Followed by the sliced meat, and the truffle sauce if you are using it. Then, add a bit more grated cheese, there really is never too much cheese.

Top with the other slice of bread, and spoon additional sauce on top of the entire thing. And to finish, more greeted cheese on top! 

Place the sandwich on a baking sheet in the oven on the broil setting for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese on top gets bubbly and starts to brown. Remove your sandwich from the oven, and be careful as it is going to be bubbling hot.

This croque is so cheesy and delicious.  Adding in the truffle paste gives it an extra richness.  We like to serve this with some cornichons or small pickles on the side, and maybe some salad greens to help balance it out. We really think this is a perfect sandwich!  

Homemade Croque Monsieur with Truffle Recipe

Ingredients:

• Good quality sliced bread
• 2 tbsp (30g) butter, plus a bit more for buttering the bread 
• 1 tbsp (20g) of flour
• 1 cup (240g) whole milk and
• About 1 ½ (50g) cup of grated cheese, we’re using gruyere
• Sliced deli meat, traditionally this would be ham but we’re using turkey in our recipe
• 1 tbsp truffle paste (optional)

Method:

1. Butter both sides of your bread and toast them in a pan or in the oven until they just start to get some brown color
2. Make the bechamel sauce (cheese sauce): Melt the butter in a pot on medium heat, then add the flour and whisk to combine.  Then, slowly add the milk while whisking.  Finally, add in about half of the grated cheese, and whisk it all together until you have a smooth sauce.  This will make enough sauce for 2 sandwiches.
3. Place one slice of bread on a baking sheet.  Spoon a bit of the sauce on top of the bread.  Then, add some grated cheese on top, followed by the sliced meat, and the truffle sauce if you are using it.  Then, add a bit more grated cheese and top with the other slice of bread. Spoon additional sauce on top of the entire thing.  And to finish, add more greeted cheese on top.  

4. Place the sandwich on a baking sheet in the oven on the broil setting for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese on top gets bubbly and starts to brown.
5. Remove your sandwich from the oven, and be careful as it is going to be bubbling hot.  
6. Serve with cornichons or a small salad, and enjoy!