Remember last week for French Fridays I made Croque Madame from David Lebovitz’ My Paris Kitchen? Well, decadent though it was, the version I prepared didn’t use up all the béchamel sauce and I was stuck with the question of what to do with around 1/3 cup of it. Well today I’m here to tell you that I highly recommend making some béchamel (you can find David’s recipe here) just so you CAN have leftovers. Because then you can make this fabulous iteration of croque monsieur – in galette/ tart form!
I love using rolls of ready-made puff pastry for a quick meal – with some eggs and vegetables you’ve got yourself a savoury tart/ quiche. With some apples, you’ve got yourself a quick apple tart. I always have puff pastry in the freezer in case of emergencies or, in this case, to make a few simple ingredients shine and make the most of leftovers. I’ve given approximate measures of the ingredients since it *was* lefotvers and there were odd amounts of things. Make sure to not overload the pastry with béchamel (i.e. depending on the size you roll out, you may not use it all) as the pastry will get too soggy and greasy. I removed the larger fatty parts of the prosciutto as well since, well, there’s already a lot of butter and cheese – you don’t need any more fat added.
Paired with a green salad this is a perfect lunch. Topped with an egg, it would make a perfect brunch dish. Anyway you eat it (and whenever you eat it) it’s a nice twist on the classic croque!
Croque Monsieur galette
Croque Monsieur in galette form.
Ingredients
- 1 x roll puff pastry, thawed but cool to the touch (I use squares of pastry approximately 20cm wide)
- 1/3 cup béchamel sauce
- 4-5 slices prosciutto, large areas of fat removed
- approximately 60g Gruyère or Swiss cheese, grated
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375˚F.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Roll out the puff pastry and place on the baking tray.
- Spread the béchamel evenly over the surface of the pastry, leaving a border of around 2cm - the edges will puff up and turn a golden brown.
- Layer the prosciutto over the top of the béchamel evenly.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the prosciutto.
- Brush the edges of the puff pastry with a little of the egg wash.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is cooked underneath, the cheese is melted and the edges of the pastry are golden brown.
Happy (French) Friday!
What a great idea! Thanks Mardi ~ looking forward to seeing you next month. 🙂
Me too! And yes, this is delicious!
Great use of leftovers. That looks so delicious!
Right? Possibly the most delicious leftovers ever!
This is a great riff on the croque monsieur – it would be perfect with a side salad as a light meal.
Indeed! With a glass of rosé!
our local market carries an amazing French ham, I’m so MAKING THIS! except I must add the egg. During my visits to Paris, I found it hard to let a day pass without a Croque Madame and onion soup.