Savoury & Style

I shared my croque Monsieur recipe earlier this year. A Croque Madame is essentially the same sandwich with the addition of a fried egg on top. As if the Monsieur wasn’t decadent enough with crispy buttered bread , bechamel and gruyère, a fried egg with crispy edges and a runny golden yolk take it over the edge. I’m a madame convert BUT I wanted to make a meatless version so I chose spinach as my ham substitution as it’s the perfect match to the creamy bechamel. Guys the result was sooo good. Really really good. This is my new brunch go to. For mini spinach Croque monsieurs scroll down.

Serves 2-3

Time: 30 minutes

6 slices sour dough or French bread bread buttered on both sides

2 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp

4 tbsp flour

11/2 cups milk

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

8 slices Swiss or gruyère (about 2 cups grated)

3 cups fresh spinach washed with stems removed

1 garlic clove grated

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 large eggs

Quick Bechamel

On medium heat melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small sauce pan. Whisk in flour until it comes together into a roux. Add the milk in 1/2 cup at a time whisking to thicken before adding next bit of milk. When the entire mixture starts to thicken turn off heat. Stir in freshly grated nutmeg, salt, 1/2 teaspoon Dijon and 2 slices (1/2 cup grated) of the cheese. Set aside.

Heat remaining tablespoon of butter in skillet. Add spinach, garlic and a pinch of salt and sauté for about 5 minutes or until spinach is wilted and garlic has softened.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Lay half of your buttered bread slices on the pan. Spread a very thin layer of Dijon on each slice. Sprinkle each slice with approximately 1/3 cup of cheese, top with spinach and another 1/3 cup of cheese. Place remaining buttered slices on top of the sandwiches.

Bake for 10 minutes, flipping them after 5 minutes.

Remove baking sheet from oven. Turn on broiler. Cover the top of each sandwich with enough bechamel to cover ( approximately 1/2 cup) . Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Pop back into the oven for 2-4 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly. * once it goes under the broiler keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Fry 3 eggs sunny side up for about 3 minutes leaving yolk slightly runny. Top each sandwich with an egg.

MINI SPINACH CROQUE MONSIEUR

Follow ingredients and directions for above with the following adjustments:

Slice 1-2 baguette or ciabatta into 48 slices and butter each slice on one side. Makes 24+ appetizers.

Increase spinach to 4 -5 cups. Each sandwich should have 2-3 leaves.

Increase cheese to 21/2 cups grated (estimate10-12 slices of cheese and cut them to fit mini baguette slices). If using grated cheese estimate about one heaping tablespoon per mini sandwich.

Oven temp should be at 350 for minis. Make them extra fancy and turn them into Madames by adding a teeny fried quail egg to each