Get the Recipe: Croque Monsieur Casserole
A fabulous brunch or dinner dish, this Croque Monsieur casserole features peameal bacon (or back bacon/Canadian bacon), together with cranberry sauce, Gruyere cheese, made into sandwiches and baked topped with an easy, homemade Mornay sauce.
Ingredients
For the casserole:
- 16 slices Italian or French bread
- 2-3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 8 slices peameal bacon,, or back bacon or Canadian bacon
- 1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce, plus more for serving
- 1/2 cup Gruyere, Emmental or Swiss cheese, shredded, plus more for topping
For the Mornay sauce:
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups milk, 2 or 3% b.f. recommended
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 35% b.f.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup Gruyere, Emmental or Swiss Cheese, shredded
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
For topping before baking:
- 1/2 cup Gruyere, Emmental or Swiss cheese, shredded
For garnish:
- Fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
For the Mornay Sauce:
- In a medium saucepan on the stove-top, add the butter and melt over medium heat. When melted, add the flour and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil still over medium heat, stirring regularly. When boiling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring regularly, until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded Gruyere and nutmeg, stirring until the cheese is melted. **Can be made ahead. Transfer to a bowl. Once cooled to warm, lay a sheet of plastic wrap over-top, laying it right onto the sauce to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate up to 2 days. When ready to use, remove from the refrigerate and whisk. If it is super thick, whisk in a bit of milk to loosen it.
For the casserole:
- Add the bacon to a frying pan and cook the bacon until completely cooked and lightly golden. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet. Place under the oven broiler and lightly toast, then flip the bread and lightly toast the other side. It doesn't take long, so watch closely to avoid over-toasting. Allow to cool to just warm.
- Spread a layer of Dijon mustard on 1/2 of the toasted bread slices. Top with 1 piece of bacon (you can cut the bacon in half if it is too large and over-lap the two halves on the one slice of bread). Top the bacon with a generous tablespoon dollop of cranberry sauce and spread it out a bit. Sprinkle with a bit of shredded Gruyere. Place the remaining slices of bread on top of each of the topped slices to make 8 sandwiches.
- Place the sandwiches into a baking dish (about 8x11" works well), with the sandwiches standing up, then adjust slightly to tip the sandwiches back a bit to overlap. **The "sandwiches" can be made ahead. Cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 8 hours. When ready to bake, remove from the refrigerator, top with Mornay sauce and bake.
- Preheat oven to 350F. (regular setting/not fan-assisted)
- Using a ladle, spoon the Mornay sauce over the casserole, both over-top and around the edges and in between the sandwiches. (If Mornay sauce is thick from refrigerating, just use a spoon to spread it around). Scatter some shredded Gruyere cheese on top.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes (a bit longer if made ahead and cold), or until the sauce is bubbly. To brown up, you can switch the oven to broil for about 2 minutes at the end of cooking.
- Remove from oven. Garnish with thyme leave, if using. Serve warm with additional cranberry sauce alongside.
Notes
If you need to feed a few more, you can increase the "sandwiches" to 10 or 11 without needing to make more Mornay sauce. You may need a slightly larger baking dish.
Enjoy warm or at room temperature, with cranberry sauce on the side. Nice with a salad or roasted vegetables.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator tightly wrapped for up to 3 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Re-warm in the microwave or a 350F oven, covered with foil, until warmed.
Be sure to read the notes above this Recipe Card, where you'll find more tips for making this recipe, along with step-by-step photos that you might find helpful.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 483kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 60mg, Sodium: 742mg, Potassium: 309mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 543IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 327mg, Iron: 1mg
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