Croque madame recipe with the slice of gruyère on top
Today, we’re featuring a variation on the French bistro classic croque-monsieur: the croque madame. The croque madame is basically a croque-monsieur with a fried egg sunny-side up on top. This croque madame recipe is as simple as can be and makes for a wonderful quick dinner. Check our detailed recipe and Art of the Home suggestions below. Enjoy and bon appétit!
Croque Madame Recipe
INGREDIENTS (for 4 servings)
- 8 slices of bread
- 8 slices of thinly sliced gruyère
- 4 slices of ham (not too thin)
- Soft salted butter
- 4 Eggs
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425 °F.
- Stack up the slices of gruyère and cut to the approximate size of the bread. Do the same thing with the slices of ham.
- Butter up 4 slices of bread and stack up ingredients in the following order: 1 slice of bread (butter side facing up), 1 slice of gruyère, 1 slice of ham, 1 slice of gruyère.
- Butter up the last 4 slices of bread and place on top of the last layer of gruyère with butter facing up. The butter will melt down into the top slice of bread. Optional: you can save the last slice of gruyère from Step 3 and place it on top after closing your croque madame.
- Put a sheet of aluminum foil on the center oven rack.
- Grill in a hot oven for about 10 minutes. During the last 1-2 minutes, put the broiler on high (but monitor closely to avoid overcooking). This will make for a nice color on top and add to the crunch.
- Fry the eggs sunny-side up, salt & pepper to taste, and place one egg on top of each croque madame.
- Serve on individual plates with a green salad if you wish.
A FEW SUGGESTIONS
- Béchamel sauce: in the winter, for a heartier meal, you can add a few spoon of béchamel sauce in Step 4 instead of butter.
- Cheese substitution: if you don’t have gruyère, you can use emmental or Swiss cheese.
- Oven alternative: a croque madame can also be made on the stove top or in a panini press.