If you’ve ever been to Paris or even just any French bistro or cafe back home, chances are that you’ve either eaten or seen a croque madame or croque monsieur before. It’s like a fancy French ham and cheese sandwich topped with béchamel and a fried egg (if you go the madame route). It’s one of my favorite lunchtime/brunch recipes to make because they’re easy and won’t make you want to take a nap afterwards. I wanted to take that classic French sandwich and give it the ol’ American mac and cheese twist. Blasphemous? Maybe. But delicious? Most certainly. This Croque Madame Mac and Cheese is here to steal your heart away.
Set a large oven-safe skillet over medium high heat with 3 tablespoons butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds or so.
Slowly stream in the milk, while whisking constantly. Stir in the bay leaves and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
**Tip: If you want to speed this process up a bit, you can warm the milk in a separate saucepan prior to adding it to the butter and flour. That way you don’t have to wait for the milk to come to temperature and then thicken.**
Season liberally with salt and black pepper and add the mustard. Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan and 1 cup of gruyere until melted through.
**Note: I’m using a mix of parmesan and gruyere cheese because I like the saltiness the parm gives it and gruyere is the classic cheese for croque madame but you can also just use mozzarella or monterey jack if that’s all you can find or have on hand.**
Add the cooked pasta (cooked just shy of what the package tells you since it’ll continue to cook in the oven) and the sliced ham and stir until well combined.
Make small wells throughout the mac and cheese and carefully crack an egg into each. Top with the remaining gruyere cheese and bake in a preheated 375°F oven until golden brown and the eggs have set, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, set a small skillet over moderate heat with the remaining butter. Once melted and hot, add the bread pieces and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until golden brown and toasted, about 5 minutes.
**Note: If you want to give the croutons a bit more flavor, you can sprinkle in a pinch of garlic powder and/or chili powder. Both are optional but if you have some on hand feel free to add them.**
Once the mac and cheese is golden and bubbly and the eggs have set, carefully remove it from the oven and top with the toasted bread and garnish with fresh thyme leaves (or chopped parsley) right before serving.
If you want to skip the eggs, because you want to make this ahead of time or just don’t like the idea of mac and cheese with baked eggs in it, you can omit that step and you’ll end up with croque monsieur mac and cheese instead!
The toasted bread bits are supposed to mimic the bread in the traditional sandwich that this is based off of. If you don’t have any leftover bread lying around or don’t feel like buying a whole loaf just for the topping, you can sprinkle a bit of panko or plain bread crumbs on top before going into the oven. You’ll get the same crunch effect.
This mac and cheese is best eaten right away because of the eggs, especially if you want a runnier yolk. I don’t like reheating cooked eggs so if you plan on making this ahead of time and baking it off later, you can crack the eggs into the mac and cheese, cover and then just bake off as directed. Although keep in mind that if you bake it from the fridge it’ll take longer to heat through and so therefore your eggs might be more overcooked than you’d like.
If you’re looking to spruce up your mac and cheese game from the beloved and classic version you make all the time, why not give this one a try? It might seem really heavy, but it’s surprisingly lighter than the traditional kind. Not lighter as in healthy but lighter as in perfect for lunch or a weekend brunch. It’s still just as cheesy and delicious, I promise. Let me know below if you have any questions or comments. Stay safe out there my friends.
Croque Madame Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta any short cut such as macaroni or cavatappi will do
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 large or 2 small dried bay leaves or fresh
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme plus more for garnish
- Kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dijon or grainy mustard
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 8 ounces good quality ham sliced
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup torn baguette pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bring a large pot of cold water to a boil. Season liberally with salt and add in the pasta. Cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Set a large oven-safe skillet over medium high heat with 3 tablespoons butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds or so. Slowly stream in the milk, while whisking constantly. Stir in the bay leaves and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season liberally with salt and black pepper and add the mustard. Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan and 1 cup of gruyere until melted through. Add the cooked pasta and the ham and stir until well combined.
- Make small wells throughout the mac and cheese and carefully crack an egg into each. Top with the remaining gruyere cheese and bake until golden brown and the eggs have set, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, set a small skillet over moderate heat with the remaining butter. Once melted and hot, add the bread pieces and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until golden brown and toasted, about 5 minutes. Top the mac and cheese with the toasted bread and garnish with fresh thyme leaves. Enjoy!
