A note to the French food purists… click away now.
For everyone else, this one is a beauty. I’m all for people bastardising recipes if the results are anything like this dish. This little beauty is what you get when you take a French technique and replace the two leading ingredients with something Italian and Spanish. Its a little kooky, a LOT tasty and super flavourful. But be warned: it is super indulgent and very addictive.
This dish was borne out of the great Simon Johnson warehouse sale shop of 2013 which also brought you the Valrhona Chocolate Cake. Belly rumbles and I went halves in a few glorious cheeses that day which included this spectacular 12 month aged Manchego cheese. It is firm, compact, buttery, and glorious when melted. Like Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Parma in Italy, Manchego can only be called such when it is made in the La Mancha region in Spain.
I was led to the Croque Monsieur because after eating a few slices of the Manchego, all I wanted to do with it was make a toasted sandwich – hence the inter-European croque monsieur was born.
I quickly realised ham wasn’t going to cut it in this croque monsieur – this beauty needed something a little more powerful to hold its own next to the manchego – so I went with my old salty mate prosciutto. After buying some spectacular prosciutto from my favourite Italian butcher and grabbing a spectacular tiger loaf from the bakery. I set about making myself possibly the best toasted sandwich I have ever eaten.
Prosciutto and Manchego Croque Monsieur
Hand cut slices of fresh bread (I used a tiger loaf)
Unsalted butter at room temperature
A few slices of Manchego cheese
2 thin slices of Prosciutto
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon grated Manchego cheese
Preheat the grill of your oven.
Take two slices of bread and butter liberally. On one slice place a layer of Manchego cheese then top with the prosciutto and another layer of Manchego cheese.
In a small bowl place the egg yolk and milk and mix well. Then add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
Place the slice of bread with manchego and prosciutto under the grill until the manchego has melted. Remove from grill and top with the remaining slice of bread. Then pour the egg yolk mixture on top of the bread and sprinkle with grated Manchego. Pop back under the grill until the cheese on top is melted and golden. Eat immediately.
Manchego and prosciutto. Two of my favourite things. This is one bastardised recipe I'd happily sink my teeth into.
My recent post Monty's Sandwich Shop
Despite my French heritage one of my favourite cheese is indeed manchego. I went a little overboard on my recent trip to Barcelona & I think I nearly transformed into a bock I was oozing so much of it out my pores. No wonder I put o so much weight LOL
Yummmmmmmmmm! Especially on that gorgeous, fluffy tiger bread! I'm a fan of manchego too and love eating it dipped in honey and then finely ground coffee beans – sounds weird, but tastes amazing!
My recent post Becoming the Poos
This looks spectacular! I've not combined Manchego and prosciutto in a grilled cheese sandwich before, but I definitely will – love the flavor combo. Good stuff – thanks.
My recent post Candied Bacon
Now this would be a dangerous breakfast for me.. but something I'd totally dive in to. It sounds divine and now I'm drooling! Beautiful photos hun x
My recent post MoVida Bar de Tapas, Melbourne VIC
Now that's kicking things up a notch! Love manchego cheese. Now all you need is a cheeky Spanish red on the side 🙂
My recent post Barbecue in Austin: Franklin Barbecue, Ruby's BBQ, Green Mesquite, Salt Lick and La Barbecue
this is a genius moment! devineeeee!
My recent post Still standing tall- Badde Manors Cafe, Glebe
Oh me oh my. This looks like my kind of sandwich. The meltier the better.
Hell yeah baby! At first I thought the tiger loaf was melted cheese on the outside. That is one special toasted sambo.
My recent post Peanut Satay Sauce Recipe