In honor of National Grilled Cheese Day on April 12, treat yourself to a sophisticated — and delicious — version of the classic sandwich.
On this episode of Epicurious' 4 Levels videos, Culinary Arts Chef-Instructor Rémy Forgues demonstrates his rich and flavorful take on the humble grilled cheese sandwich.
Chef Rémy uses homemade sourdough bread, which works well with the richness of two kinds of cheese: Emmental for melting and Parmigiano-Reggiano for saltiness. He layers the sandwich with thinly cut prosciutto for flavor and spreads béchamel on top.
Related: 5 Best Cheeses for Grilled Cheese
His pro trick: cutting a hole in one slice of bread for an egg yolk and broiling the sandwich after grilling.
Watch the video to make a crispy, melty, eggy grilled cheese and get the recipe below.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf sourdough bread
- 1 pound Emmental cheese or Comté, sliced
- 1/2 pound boiled ham or prosciutto cotto, sliced
- 1 pound butter
- 1 quart milk
- salt
- Freshly ground white pepper
- Nutmeg
- 75 grams all-purpose flour
- 5 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 8 eggs
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
- To start building the sandwiches, take each slice of bread, cover it with a slice of cheese, a slice of ham and another slice of cheese. Make sure that there isn’t any extra cheese overlapping from the bread or it will burn while the sandwich goes in the oven.
- Take the other slice of bread, and using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut a hole in the center.
- Close the sandwich and spread room-temperature butter on both sides.
For the Béchamel:
- Warm up some milk in a 2-quart saucepot. Season it with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
- In the meantime, melt 75 grams of butter in another saucepot.
- When melted, add 75 grams of flour, whisk vigorously.
- Strain the milk through a fine mesh colander and slowly add it to the butter and milk mixture, making sure the milk is fully absorbed before adding more, whisking all the time.
- Bring the whole mixture to a boil. Add the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and some Emmental, and whisk until the cheese melts. Reserve.
For Assembly:
- Warm up a cast-iron pan on the stove, add a little oil (or clarified butter) and gently crisp each sandwich, hole side down first. When golden, flip the sandwich and put the pan in the oven long enough for the cheese inside to melt.
- Take the pan out of the oven. Turn the oven to broil.
- Crack an egg. Separate the yolk and the white. With an offset spatula or a spoon, spread the béchamel on the sandwich on the hole side, making sure not to cover the hole.
- Put the yolk in the hole. Put the sandwich under the broiler until the béchamel is bubbling up.
- Serve immediately.
Explore sandwiches from around the world in our Culinary Arts program.
