Last week, we dug out a trusty old favorite for dinner, back from the early days of the blog: the croque monsieur. If you’re not familiar, it’s a hot ham & cheese sandwich topped with a cheesy cream sauce. It’s a total fork & knife sandwich.
And it’s faaaabulous.
While there are exactly zero things wrong with the classic, I wanted to put a seasonal spin on the croque monsieur with hatch chiles. A hatch chile croque monsieur.
We simmered chopped peppers to make a hatch-infused cream sauce and replaced the stinky gruyere with unstinky Monterrey Jack cheese. And then we added more chiles to the sandwich. After a short stint in the oven, our hot ham & cheese sandwich now had plenty of chile flavor and just a hint of warmth from the mild-to-medium peppers.
And it was time to grab a fork.
The classic French sandwich gets a makeover for hatch chile season.
Ingredients
- For the hatch chile cream sauce:
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 2 hatch chiles, roasted, seeded, and chopped (directions here)
- 3/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/4 cup grated Monterrey Jack
- For the sandwiches
- 6-8 slices of bread
- Deli sliced ham
- 3-4 slices of cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted hatch chiles
- 1/4 cup grated Monterrey Jack
Instructions
Notes
Yields: 3-4 servings, depending on bread size
Estimated time: 20 minutes
19 comments… add one
Somehow I’ve never had a croque monsieur in my entire life, but I really need to change that! That gooey layer of cheese on top looks to die for 🙂
I’ve never had a croque monsieur before, but I am in love with hatch chiles! I have a feeling I would love this sandwich! Yum!
I have been staring at the one in Bon appetit and after seeing this sandwich I can’t wait to make one!
Hello, new favorite sandwich.
ummm seriously everything. you. post. has me drooling. I’m fairly certain we have the same tastebuds.
Ooooh goodness, this looks divine!
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Adding a bit of spice to such a creamy delicious classic is never a bad thing!
Just figured out what I am making for dinner tonight! Looks delicious.
Sometimes I feel like such a redneck reading this blog: “Hmmm, hatch cheee-lay croak muh-syur. What in tarnation is that?” Yeah, I’ve never heard of it, but oh my goodness, it looks so decadent. A cheesy cream sauce with chiles? Count me in!
This looks ahhh-mazing! I guess I know what’s for lunch tomorrow!
Jan B
I’ve never had a hatch chili before. Are they mild or spicy? This looks really good.
Mostly mild but my grocery store actually had a crate of “hot” hatch chiles separate from the regular ones this year.
first croque monsieur that I’ve seen in my blogroll!! I really hope these become a big food fad, because they are DELICIOUS! I love the hatch chiles you use. My mouth is watering!
Vicki B.
Two of my favorite things in the world, 1) hot ham & cheese and, 2) New Mexico Green Chile! Thank you!
I have GOT to scoot my butt over to Central Market and pick up some of these chiles! I guess they freeze well too, since my neighbors are doing just that. Mouthwatering recipe using them! I love a good croque.
This grilled cheese is soooo tempting!
This is quite WONDERFUL. I have a bunch of roasted hatch chiles sitting in my fridge waiting to be used
Umm, yeah. Can’t really go wrong with something like this, can you? That cheese. . . .
🙂Debra
mouthwatering…
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