Croque Monsieur

- a hot sandwich with cheese and ham.

A very popular dish of French cuisine.

It can be breakfast, a hot snack, and a main course.

Ingredients (for 2 sandwiches):

• Toast bread 4 pcs

• Ham 80 g

• Hard cheese 120 g

• Bechamel sauce 200 g

• Mustard 2 teaspoons

Photo: Andrii Velichka's Facebook

Cooking technology:

Toast bread should be dried in a hot pan without oil.

Or in the toaster.

It is good to dry it on both sides - so that a crispy crust appears.

Spread the dried bread, apply Béchamel sauce (about half), then cheese (thin slices or grated on a grater), then slices of ham.

Fold the sandwich in such a way that the ham is inside, and then layers of cheese and Béchamel sauce.

Now you need to press the sandwich well, hold it for a few seconds to compress.

Next, spread half of the remaining Béchamel sauce evenly over the sandwich.

And sprinkle with the remains of grated cheese.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees or until the sandwich becomes golden brown.

It can be served for breakfast or lunch with soup.

By the way, if you have Bechamel sauce ready in advance, the entire process of preparing such a dish will take no more than 20-25 minutes, of which 15 are baking.

A version of this sandwich with a fried egg on top is called a croque madame.

They say that the egg in this case resembles a woman's hat.

Photo: Andrii Velichka's Facebook

Bon appetit!

Andriy Velychko

 is one of the few chefs in Ukraine who received a culinary education at the Institute of Paul Bocuse, the creator of "new French cuisine".

On his Facebook page,

 he shares interesting recipes and cooking secrets with his followers.

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