I made this casserole last night that's kind of a cross between a Croque Madame and a Hot Brown, with some spinach and green peppers thrown in. It turned out really good, even though I accidentally made my bechamel sauce with vanilla almond milk instead of cream! It actually wasn't bad and gave the dish a slightly sweet french toast sort of flavor. You can change this dish up lots of ways with different breads, sauces, cheeses, veg etc...
So mine went a little somethin' like this:
spread [half of the] bechamel sauce in the bottom, then top with toasted bread. I used multigrain but vienna, greek, white or any other toasted bread would be fantastic. Top that with cheese. I used white NY cheddar, but you can use gruyere, gouda, swiss etc.
Top the cheese with cooked bacon (ham or turkey can be used). As you can see I made half of the dish with some sauteed green pepper, tomato slices and fresh spinach leaves (so good!). This is a great way to make a meatless dish too, just load it up with veggies. Put the rest of your bechamel on top, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and paprika. Pop in the oven at 350 f for about 30 minutes or until it starts bubbling.
A few minutes before it's ready to come out, fry up some over easy eggs and plop them right on top of the croque when you're serving it up. I went a bit Irish on mine and made some beans and sauteed mushrooms on the side. Delicious even at dinner time, I'm definitely going to make one of these babies next time we have a party and I wake up with a house full of peeps!
