What do you get when you cross French toast with a Croque Madame, then add sauteed spinach and carmelized onions? Answer: a towering griddled sandwich that’s golden and crusty on the outside, creamy and custardy on the inside, layered with savory fillings, oozing with cheese, and crowned with a shining sunny egg.
Stuffed French toast is a brunch menu staple – most often sweet but occasionally savory. For a savory version cheese is a must, usually with bacon or sausage, and maybe vegetables.
A cousin – once or twice removed – of stuffed French toast is the Croque Monsieur. In a Croque Monsieur, the bread isn’t soaked in custard, it’s bathed in Mornay sauce instead, but the end result is still basically a griddled ham and cheese sandwich. Add a fried egg on top and you have a Croque Madame. All of these classic dishes were swirling in my head as I envisioned this recipe, and then I took a sidestep to Italy for the flavor profile: Fontina in place of Gruyere, pancetta in place of ham, and sauteed spinach and onions piled on for good measure.
I realize I’ve posted several recipes lately that feature pancetta (like this chicken and these peas). I always keep pancetta – both sliced and diced – in my freezer, and these days I’m making more freezer/pantry meals since I’m making fewer trips to the grocery store. Pancetta adds such a punch of salty/porky flavor, and is so versatile, I find myself turning to it again and again. In these French toast sandwiches, the meatiness and crispiness of the pancetta is an essential contrast to the soft mildness of the cheese and spinach.
Be deliberate when choosing the bread for these sandwiches. You want something that’s soft (not crusty), yet firm enough to withstand the custard without getting soggy. I prefer a rectangular loaf – not round or oval – for making nice square sandwiches that can be cut in half on the diagonal. Ideally the loaf should be uncut so you can cut it yourself into ¾-inch thick slices. I have a local market that sells a loaf just like this, fresh baked in their in-store bakery. You could also bake your own if you’re feeling energetic. If neither of those is feasible, look for a thick-sliced packaged bread from the bread aisle that’s labeled “artisan” or “Texas Toast”.
If you can’t find Fontina, substitute another smooth-melting cheese such as Jarlsberg, Gruyere, Emmentaler, or even mozzarella.
This recipe has quite a few components and steps, so it is a bit of a time commitment. Some steps can be done ahead, and all are easy. Plan to make this on a lazy Sunday morning – and bring your appetite, because these sandwiches are big. Each sandwich will feed one extremely hungry person, or two regular people if you add a couple of extra eggs and fill out the menu with potatoes, salad, fruit, or other brunch-y sides.
Variations:
- Swap out the Fontina for any melty cheese (see a partial list above), and substitute other meats such as sausage, ham, bacon or prosciutto for the pancetta. Try finely chopped broccoli and/or mushrooms in place of spinach.
- For a sandwich closer to a Croque Madame (not to mention simpler and less filling), try Gruyere with bacon or ham, and omit the spinach and onion from the filling.
- You could go lighter still (relatively speaking) and make the French toast without filling: When soaking the bread, turn it after 5 minutes so that both sides of the bread soak up an equal amount of the custard. Use a little extra Parmesan so you can coat both sides of each piece of bread with it, then griddle the bread as you would for any French toast. Serve 2 pieces of bread per person with a fried egg either on top or on the side, and crisped pancetta (or bacon or sausage) alongside.
Making this ahead and what to with leftovers:
- The pancetta, onions and spinach can all be made ahead. Assemble and cook the sandwiches and fry the eggs just before serving.
- Leftovers of just the sandwich (not topped with the fried egg) could be kept for a day or so and reheated in the microwave.
Spinach and Fontina Stuffed French Toast
These sandwiches are large and extremely filling. Serve one sandwich (with one egg on top) per person for a very hearty meal, or half a sandwich per person, each with its own egg, for a more modest serving.
Ingredients
- 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 6 thin slices pancetta
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- Kosher salt
- 4 or 6 large eggs, divided
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Four ¾-inch thick slices of firm, soft-crusted, sandwich-style bread
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 ounces Fontina cheese, thinly sliced (or other smooth-melting cheese)
- Minced parsley for garnish
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and then add a layer of paper towel. Also line a plate with paper towel. Set these aside.
- Step 2 Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the pancetta. Cook the pancetta, turning once, until crispy and browned on both sides. Remove the pancetta to the paper towel-lined baking sheet.
- Step 3 Add the sliced onion to the oil and pancetta drippings in the skillet, and saute the onion until it’s softened and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the onion to one side of the paper towel-lined plate.
- Step 4 Add the remaining ½ tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, along with the spinach and a pinch of kosher salt. Cook the spinach, tossing it occasionally, until it’s wilted and some of the excess moisture has cooked away. Transfer it to the other side of the paper towel-lined plate with the onions. Wipe out the skillet with paper towel and set it aside, off the heat.
- Step 5 Crack 2 of the eggs into a 9×13-inch rectangular baking dish, and whisk them to blend. Add the milk, cream, and a generous pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper and whisk until the custard is smooth. Arrange the bread slices in the custard in a single layer and leave them undisturbed for 10 minutes to absorb the custard – do not turn them, you only want to coat one side. A few minutes before the bread is finished soaking, return the skillet to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of the butter.
- Step 6 Build the sandwiches. Pick up one slice of the bread and flip it over in your palm with the custard side up. Sprinkle it evenly with ¼ of the Parmesan cheese, then transfer it to the buttered skillet, custard/Parmesan side down. Repeat with another slice of bread. Cover each slice of bread with ¼ of the Fontina, evenly spread in a thin layer out to the edges of the bread. Use a paper towel to press down on top of the spinach to push out as much of the residual liquid as possible, then add ½ of the spinach atop each piece of bread in the skillet, then ½ of the onions, then 3 slices of pancetta on each sandwich, and finally the remaining Fontina. Pick up another slice of bread from the custard, sprinkle the custard side with Parmesan, and place it on top of the Fontina on one sandwich, custard/Parmesan side up. Repeat with the last piece of bread. Discard the paper towel from the baking sheet the pancetta was sitting on but leave the foil in place.
- Step 7 Cook the sandwiches until the bottoms are golden brown. Use 2 spatulas, or one spatula and your other hand to carefully flip the sandwiches – they’ll be tall and a little unwieldy – and cook the other side until golden brown. Transfer the sandwiches to the foil-lined baking sheet and move them to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Step 8 Meanwhile, wipe out the skillet and place it back over medium heat. During the last 5 minutes of the baking time, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan and crack in the remaining 2 or 4 eggs. (Use 2 eggs if serving 2, 4 if serving 4.) Cook the eggs sunny-side up to your desired doneness.
- Step 9 Cut the sandwiches in half on the diagonal and transfer them to 2 or 4 plates. Top each sandwich or half with one of the fried eggs and sprinkle the parsley over the top.
