Nick’s monte cristo bake recipe puts a spin on the traditional battered and fried monte cristo sandwich. He lines a baking dish with thin slices of bread coated in a light custard, adds a generous layer of ham and swiss cheese, tops it with a second layer of the lightly coated bread, follows with a generous layer of turkey and cheese, and finishes with a third layer of the coated bread. The remaining batter is poured over the three layers, and then baked until golden brown. The top is deliciously crusty while the inside is light and airy much like a good Quiche.
This dish can be made a few hours before baking. Nick makes this dish on Christmas Eve, and then pops it in the oven Christmas morning while he opens Christmas presents with his family. He drizzles syrup over the dish before serving but a dusting of powdered sugar will work too.
Baked Monte Cristo Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 eggs
- 1 pint of heavy cream
- ½ cup or a little less of sugar
- 1 loaf of pepperidge farm white bread thin
- Half pound of deli ham thin
- Half pound of deli turkey thin
- I package of baby Swiss Cheese about 10-12 slices
Instructions
- Grease 13 x 9-inch baking dish with butter. Mix eggs, heavy cream, and sugar in a bowl to make a French toast custard. Dip bread into custard mixture, and add layer of dipped bread to bottom of baking dish.
- Add generous layers of ham on top of layer of coated bread, then top with a layer of cheese.
- Add a layer of coated bread to cheese layer, then add generous layers of turkey and cheese.
- Top with layer of coated bread. This should fill the entire baking pan, but do not pile it on. Pour the remaining custard mixture over the layers. It will cover the entire dish with just a thin layer over the last layer of dipped bread.
- Bake in oven at 350°F covered until fully cooked, about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top layer is brown and toasty, about 15 minutes.
Notes
What a clever idea! The sandwich looks really good and I love the make ahead capability.
I made this and it was really good. I think next time I will add sauted mushrooms and onions to the inside of it.
We serve these sandwiches with white or sausage gravy over the top. Christmas brunch treat.
The Monte Cristo is hands down my favorite sandwich in the world. A casserole version= genius. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing. Gonna make this with a little side of raspberry jam. 🙂