Colm O'Gorman: The Monte Cristo sandwich tastes as good as it sounds

You'll love its crispy, cheesy, sweet, savoury goodness

Our lovely neighbour Serena introduced me to the Monte Cristo sandwich recently. We often send each other food ideas or recipes that we spot and are eager to try. Serena is a great cook, so when she flags an idea, it is always worth trying. The original recipe uses deli turkey and ham, Swiss cheese and Dijon mustard, packed into a sandwich that is then dipped in an egg mixture and oven-baked — a sort of French toast-style sandwich.

I decided to play around with the idea and used chicken breast freshly pan roasted in butter, Parma ham, Emmental cheese, and fresh pear for my version. I also fried my sandwiches in the pan with some butter before finishing them off in the oven. It gave me a lovely crisp, golden sandwich that was just perfect.

Some recipes suggest using brioche or challah bread, but I think that would be a little too rich and I prefer the texture of a lovely fresh crusty cob loaf for this. The pan-roasted chicken takes a little more time to prepare than using deli meat, but the flavour is lovely. You can of course use deli turkey or chicken breast if you prefer. You could also use some crispy streaky smoked bacon if you do not like Parma ham. I have made this recipe with both on different occasions, and either is delicious.

I serve this sandwich with a freshly made, tangy blueberry compote. It is beautiful with the sandwich, the freshness and tartness of the compote cuts through the cheese and meat, and balances out all the flavours. This is one of those lovely sweet, savoury, tangy, crispy, buttery, creamy sort of dishes that is deeply satisfying and utterly delicious.

Monte Cristo Sandwich

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

The perfect weekend brunch dish, served with a side of fresh berries and blueberry compote.

Preparation Time

 50 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 French

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 50g butter

• 8 slices fresh white bread

• 30g Dijon mustard

• 8 thin slices Emmental cheese

• 4-8 slices of Parma ham

• 2 fresh pears

• 3 large eggs

• 2 tbsp plain flour

• ½ tsp flaky sea salt

• 30 ml milk

• 125g fresh blueberries

• 50g caster sugar

• Juice of a lemon

• To serve:

• A little icing sugar

• Some fresh berries.

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°Celsius. Heat a non-stick pan over a high heat. Add a little olive oil and reduce the heat to medium. Pop the two chicken breasts into the pan, season with a little flaky sea salt and cook for three minutes on each side.

2. Now add 30g of butter to the pan, and when it foams, use a spoon to ladle the butter over the chicken, cooking it like that for another three to four minutes before transferring it to the oven and roasting it for six minutes until it is cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside for now. Turn the oven up to 200°Celsius.

3. Spread the Dijon mustard across the eight slices of bread, covering one side of each slice generously. Wash the pear and cut it into slices about half a centimetre thick. Cut the chicken breasts into thin slices.

4. Assemble the sandwiches. Start by laying a slice of cheese on the bread, adding a layer of chicken, then some sliced pear, then Parma ham and finally, another slice of cheese. Use one or two slices of Parma ham per sandwich based on your own preference. I use two per sandwich, but some people prefer less, so suit yourself. Finally, add another slice of bread to complete the sandwich. Repeat to make four sandwiches in total.

5. Pop the eggs into a bowl along with the flour, sea salt and milk. Melt 20g of butter and add that to the bowl as well. Whisk to combine into a batter and pour that into a wide bowl or dish.

6. Heat a heavy-based non-stick pan over a high heat. When it is good and hot, add a generous knob of butter and reduce the heat to medium. Dip both sides of each of the sandwiches into the egg mixture and let that soak into the bread a little. You will likely need to pan-fry these two at a time unless you have an enormous pan, so dip them in batches of two as well. Put the sandwiches into the pan and cook them for three minutes on each side. Once they are all done in the pan, transfer the sandwiches to a non-stick baking tray and bake them in the oven for another five to six minutes until they are golden brown, and the cheese is melting and dripping down the sides of the sandwiches.

7. While the sandwiches are baking, wash the blueberries and put them into a small saucepan, along with the caster sugar and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the blueberries have softened and begun to pop. Cook, until the compote has reduced a little and looks like a runny jam — about five minutes will do it. Remove from the heat and transfer to four small serving bowls to go alongside each sandwich.

8. When the sandwiches are done, cut each in half, place it on a plate and dust it with a little icing sugar. Add some fresh berries, strawberries and blueberries are perfect, and a serving of the compote. Dip the sandwich in the compote as you eat it or spoon a little over the sandwich as you munch your way through all that crispy, cheesy, sweet, savoury goodness!