Francesinha
Layered ham, sausage, and steak fully enclosed in bread and blanketed in melted cheese, then drenched in a spiced tomato-and-beer sauce and topped with a fried egg. Credited to Daniel da Silva, a Porto chef who had worked in France and Belgium and adapted the croque-monsieur into something heartier for Portuguese tastes upon his return, debuting the sandwich at his restaurant, A Regaleira, in the 1950s-60s.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Dairy, Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 8 slices white sandwich bread
- 4 thin beef steaks (or pork loin cutlets)
- 4 slices smoked ham
- 4 fresh pork sausage links, cooked
- 12 slices mild yellow cheese
- 4 eggs, for topping
- 400g crushed tomato
- 330ml beer (lager)
- 100ml tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp piri-piri or chili paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp flour, for thickening
- Butter
- Fries, for serving
Steps
- Pan-fry or grill the steaks and sausages until cooked through, then assemble sandwiches with ham, steak, and sausage between the bread slices.
- Wrap each sandwich completely in cheese slices, covering all sides so no bread is exposed.
- Melt in the oven or under a broiler until the cheese fully melts and browns slightly.
- For the sauce, simmer the crushed tomato, beer, ketchup, garlic, bay leaves, and chili paste together 15-20 minutes, then thicken with a butter-flour roux whisked in.
- Fry an egg per sandwich, sunny-side up.
- Plate each cheese-wrapped sandwich, top with a fried egg, and pour the hot sauce generously over the top.
- Serve immediately with French fries.