Translated as “gentleman’s crunch”, the croque-monsieur is usually transformed into a croque-madame by the addition of fried egg, but I find it rich enough as a pan-fried sandwich with gruyère and ham.

Ingredients
Feeds 4. Takes 25 mins.

4tbsp grated gruyère
2tbsp sour cream or crème fraîche
Freshly ground black pepper
tsp grated nutmeg
1tsp Worcestershire sauce
1tsp Dijon mustard
2 thin slices good ham
4 slices fresh white sandwich bread
Butter, softened

Mix the grated cheese with enough crème fraîche to hold it together. Add the pepper, grated nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.

Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on the bench, butter four slices of bread, then turn two of them butter-side down. Cover the two unbuttered sides with the cheese spread, right to the edges. Top with slices of ham, cut to fit. Top with remaining slices of bread, butter-side up.

Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan and place sandwiches in it, pressing down lightly to help them stick together. Fry until golden, then turn and fry on the other side.

Heat an overhead grill for the finishing touch. Remove the sandwiches from the pan and quickly spread one side with the remaining cheese mixture, covering right to the edges to prevent the bread from burning. Place under the grill for one minute until the cheese topping bubbles and browns, watching carefully that it doesn’t burn. Cut in half and serve piping hot.

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