Wonderfully indulgent, this croque monsieur brunch bake is sure to be a crowd pleaser in your household. This recipe is ultimately multiple cheese, mustard and ham toasties, overlapping on each other in a casserole dish, with an eggy milk mixture poured all over and baked until bubbling, golden and delicious.
The best part of this recipe is it can be made ahead for the ultimate ease and tastes just like our favourite French toastie, but turned into an easy hands-off bake.
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Yields:
6 serving(s)
Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
45 mins
Cal/Serv:
613
Ingredients
50g
butter, softened, plus extra to grease
12
crusty white bread slices
2Tbsp.
Dijon mustard
12
ham slices
200g
Gruyère, coarsely grated
3
medium eggs, plus 2 yolks
450ml
milk
2tsp.
Worcester sauce
12
cherry tomatoes, halved
Directions
Step 1Grease a rough 3 litre ovenproof serving dish. Lay 6 slices of bread on a board. Spread each with the mustard, then divide the ham slices and 150g Gruyère equally between the 6 slices.
Step 2Butter the remaining bread slices and press on top (butter-side down) to make 6 sandwiches. Slice each sandwich in 1/2 diagonally and arrange in the greased dish.
Step 3In a jug whisk the eggs, yolks, milk, Worcester sauce and plenty of seasoning. Pour over the sandwiches, then chill to soak for at least 30min (up to 12hr).
Step 4Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Scatter over the tomatoes, followed by the remaining 50g Gruyère. Cook for 20-25min, or until golden brown and the custard is set. Serve.
GET AHEAD: Prepare to end of step 3 the evening before you want to serve. Cover and chill. Complete recipe to serve.
If you're veggie, feel free to leave out the ham, or you could try smoked salmon in its place for a variation on this classic.
If you're after another winning brunch recipe, our hash brown baked eggs is sensational.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
