Lift a run of the mill ham and cheese sandwich with this easy ham cheese toastie or Croque Monsieur, combining brioche eggy bread, stringy mozzarella cheese and versatile Princes canned ham.
A toastie – toasted sandwich – might be known as the staple of students and a hangover from 60s bedsit dwellers – the sandwich toaster itself must surely be past its glory days – but that doesn’t mean it has to be, or even should be, forgotten. A few minutes can take a ham and cheese sandwich from the essence of ordinary to something much more enticing; crunchy, gooey and oozing cheese.
Here, we’ve lifted the sandwich by using a nice light brioche bread: the added butter makes for a sinfully tasty sandwich, but it does mean that it joins the list of occasional treats rather than frequent staples. Rather than go with the traditional croque monsieur recipe using a bechamel sauce, we’ve decided to go for an eggy bread/french toast influence, and soak the bread in an egg and milk mixture. This means that we can cook our sandwich in a frying pan and get that lovely brown, crunchy layer on the outside. It’s better if you don’t cook it too fast, so that the heat has time to melt the cheese properly. The other advantage of this recipe is that it’s a lot faster than having to make a bechamel sauce, and when it comes to a snack like a toastie, speed is of essence.
The only thing you have to watch out for is that the soaked bread can be a little delicate. I just soak one side, which I use as the outside of each sandwich. And don’t stand on ceremony – once served, start eating almost immediately.
Pop over to Come Home to Princes, where you find lots of other recipes, including some more from me.
- 2 slices brioche bread
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 3 slices Princes canned ham
- 20 g mozzarella sliced
- 20 g hard cheese (e.g. cheddar) sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- butter for frying
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Beat the egg and milk together in a flat bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste, and soak the brioche – one side of each slice only.
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Assemble the sandwich, with the soaked sides of bread outwards; a layer of ham topped by the cheese.
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Fry gently over a medium heat until golden and the cheese has started to melt. Eat immediately!
Recipe feature of ham and cheese toastie commissioned by Princes. All opinions our own.
I love grilled cheese! I love that you add ham and dip the bread in egg. Oh my, I have GOT to try this!
10 days sounds awesome.
Yummy – this looks delicious and sounds really easy to make too :)
so easy, and so satisfying.
I LOVE all the crouques lol…anything cheesy basically. This looks amazing!
Anything cheesy goes for me too!
I have never tried canned ham before, to be honest I didn’t know it existed. But I do love a ham and cheese sandwich.
It is such a great store cupboard ingredient.
This looks like such a delicious start to any day. I haven’t even eaten yet today so this is really making me hungry! It looks amazing!
I’d probably have it for lunch or an early before going out supper, but breakfast works too.
Croque Monsieur is one of my favorite sandwiches — I mean what’s not to love — this toastie reminds me of that, minus the béchamel!
Well this one is an easy twist.
I love these, you can’t beat a bit of melted cheese in any sandwich x
the more melted cheese the better!
This sounds like such a great recipe for my husband. I love cheese brioche toasties but without the ham as I’m vegetarian.
Brioche does make an excellent toastie.
Ooh this looks like it would make an unforgettable lunch. I love a good old fashion toastie but I’m always happy to add a little something extra to a staple.
I do like a twist on a classic staple!
Yum I love a good ham and cheese toasty one of the best comfort foods. I’ve not tried it using brioche bread and princes ham though.
the brioche makes it so much more special.
Sounds yummy and looks great! We love brioche in our house!
Brioche is such a treat and makes the best toasties!
Such a simple snack but so tasty! Thanks for the recipe :)
So quick and easy. the simple ones sometimes are the best aren’t they?
I’m an absolute cheese lover this sounds delicious !
It’s the simplest of things you forget about really
Absolutely. There is a reason that most of the classics are simple.
If I could make my toastie look this amazing I would be eating a lot of them x
It did take several goes!
This looks great. Just the sort of thing i would like to eat
All that lovely melted cheese!
Oooh love a good toastie and what a fab idea for using Princes tinned ham which I had never thought of before!
it is such a good store cupboard ingredient.
One of my favourite things about my holidays in France was always the croque monsieur. I LOVE them!! I can never make one as good as those from France, but I will definitely try!
the secret is the bread, you want soft white, or brioche
I need to make this, it looks amazing
Certainly worth a try, they are delicious.
This is one delicious looking ham & cheese I have seen in a while. Thanks for the recipe
Ham and cheese together are one of those perfect combinations.
This is breakfast perfection. Looks absolutely delicious
Absolutely. Perfect for a lazy start to the weekend.
What a yummy looking recipe. I would love to try it.
A tasty and easy dish to make.
I had a cheese toastie for lunch but it wasn’t as nice as this one. I love brioche so this looks very tasty x
A toastie made with brioche is a work of art!
That texture looks great and very tasty. I think it’s a great easy one to make for after work :)
Perfect for after work, or any snacking occasion.
tried that princes ham when I was at my mother in laws the other week and it was really nice in a sandwich. This looks delicious, I have not had a toastie in years x
I lived on toasties at university!
I didn’t realise you could buy tinned ham, going to look for it tomorrow x
It is a really useful storecupboard ingredient.