My favorite French lunch is a croque monsieur sandwich. It’s bread, ham, and cheese topped with a bechamel sauce that is broiled. A croque madame sandwich is the same thing, but it is topped with an egg. These sandwiches are creamy, gooey, and yet crunchy, and I am always satisfied to the max after eating one. I love entertaining in the fall and winter by serving a hearty brunch. Although a croque madame pizza would be good at any meal, it is a perfect brunch food served with an arugula salad. This croque madame pizza was the first thing I baked in our new stove here at our new place, and it was such a joy to eat. It is somewhat a comfort food and perfect for cooler weather. It really isn’t too hard to make because this pizza is more about assembly than actual cooking. Instead of making the sauce, you combine the ingredients and they become the base for the pizza. Since I haven’t found my good camera yet, these photos are taken with an iphone. Please don’t let their lack of luster keep you from making this croque madame pizza.
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked pizza crust from the dairy department (or you can make your own)
- 3/4 cup grated cheddar
- 3/4 cup grated gruyere
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 8 ounces of deli ham cut into strips (can use prociutto or pancetta
- 4 or 6 eggs at room temperature (this depends on how many slices you want from your pizza)
- 1/2 cup gruyere for the top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425
- Spread dough onto a pizza pan
- Combine cheddar, gruyere, sour cream, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper and spread over the crust.
- Using the ham, make little circular "nests" for the eggs
- Crack a raw egg into each ham nest
- Top with remaining gruyere
- Cook for 20 minutes or till eggs are just set
Just remember that the number of eggs you use will be determined by how many slices of pizza you want and their size. Each slice should have a whole egg. If you want to make a croque monsieur pizza instead, just omit the eggs. I hope you enjoy this recipe which I found in a flyer we received from our realtor. If you serve it as a brunch food, it would taste great with this Bloody Mary recipe.
Have a wonderful weekend. We are getting to the last of our boxes, and this girl has some decorating and furniture shopping to do.
Take care.
