I love a good baked sandwich this time of year. It’s a great compliment to a salad or small bowl of soup. This is one of my favorites. It’s sort of a vegetarian twist on the classic croque monsieur.
I guess you could call this a croque pomme et fromage, maybe? It’s a crispy apple and cheese sandwich. If any of our French speaking readers want to weigh in on this, feel free!
Whatever you call it, this sandwich has it all: crispy apples paired with melted cheese all baked together on sourdough bread with pesto and spinach.
The following recipe allows you to make three or four sandwiches at once, but if you are making less, just cut back on the amount of sauce (béchamel) you make at once.
Baked Cheesy Apple Sandwiches, makes four.
8 slices of sourdough bread
8 tablespoons of butter, divided
2 tablespoons pesto (store bought or homemade)
1-2 apples (depending on size)
8 slices of provolone cheese
2 big handfuls of spinach
3 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup milk
salt + pepper
1-2 teaspoons chopped parsley for garnish, optional
First, I just assemble the sandwiches so they are ready once my sauce is done.
Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a small bowl or dish. Brush onto the outside of two slices of bread. Assemble the sandwiches so each one has pesto, thinly sliced apple (I like to use a mandoline for this), spinach and a slice of provolone.
Next, make your sauce by melting the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small pot over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until a thick paste forms. Then whisk in the milk and season with a little salt and pepper. After a minute or so, it will begin to thicken into a gravy.
Immediately remove from the heat and pour the sauce over the top of each sandwich. Add another slice of provolone cheese, and then bake the sandwiches under the broiler until bubbly and well toasted.
You may need to rotate the pan so each sandwich gets toasted evenly, but just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
Top with a little chopped parsley and serve warm. You’ve gotta make these sometime this season, guys.
They’re seriously SO good. If you just can’t get behind apples and cheese together, then you could change the apple out for sautéed mushrooms. Up to you. Enjoy! xo. Emma
These are amazing! Making them again for a dinner party tonight!
Ou! They look yummy, we will be trying these xo
www.selftimers.blogspot.com
Sounds so yummy! I’m going to try it for sure! Thanks for sharing 🙂
xx
http://www.smartdresser.net/
This looks like THE BEST sandwich!!
Katherine – http://chatterboxnewyork.com
Heading to the store the buy all of the ingredients as I type! Just curious, what type of soup do you think would taste good with this?
French Canadian here and you spelt everything right 🙂 I’ve never tried to “bake” a croque pomme before. The way I make mine is the way I tasted it in a local restaurant I go to sometimes and this is how it goes:
Toast raisin and cinnamon bread, spread butter and honey on it and assemble with green apples sliced thinly, aged cheddar thinly sliced as well, bacon strips and then heat it in a pan like you would for grilled cheese. It’s seriously amazing (but more of a breakfast thing I guess).
Looks really good! http://www.hannamarielei.com
I sometimes daydream about the croque monsieur (and everything else on the menu) at Tartine in San Francisco. Can’t wait to try this version! I’m not a vegetarian, but I still really appreciate vegetarian takes on classic recipes. I hope there are more to come in your cookbook!
Looks delicious 😀 I`ll try this one for sure!
Oh come on girls! *heart eyed emoji*
This sounds SO delicious!!!
These look AMAZING! Making this immediately
Laura
http://thefoxtrails.blogspot.com/
This looks yumm
www.killthemwithchic.com
This used to be one of my faves as a kid! So simple and delicious. I would only use butter, apple, sour cream, and cheese, and maybe some pepper or red paprika. No greens or béchamel, but your version must be even better!
xoxo
agnes
iiiinspired.com
OMG that looks amazing!
XO Ellen from Ask Away
www.askawayblog.com
oi…I am never too keen on recipes with apples in combination with salty or other savoury ingredients…but this looks so damn delicious I would consider to try it…good job…thats not easy to do 🙂 haha
You can make this with olive oil instead of butter, and non-dairy milk and non-dairy cheese!
Yum what an interesting take on the croque monsieur! I like making variations of this sandwich. And the French name you found for it is pretty good, that’s actually a name we could give to this recipe. Or maybe we’d simply call it “croque monsieur à la pomme et aux épinards”! I’ll have to try it anyways!
Also I wanted to point out a little typo in your bechamel recipe : you wrote to whisk in the butter (into the melted butter…) until a paste form, instead of the flour.
Have a very nice day 🙂
Super!
This just looks so delicious.
xx