September 13: Italian Open-Face Sandwiches

2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup half-and-half or whole milk
2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large ¾-inch-thick hand-cut slices from a loaf of semolina bread

½ pound prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and thinly sliced

¾ pound Fontina cheese, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon apricot jam or orange marmalade
12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 cups mixed baby greens, any variety

Preheat the broiler to high. Lightly toast the bread under the hot broiler.

Heat a small sauce pot over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and melt. Whisk the flour into the butter and cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the half-and-half. Season with 1 teaspoon of the Dijon mustard, the nutmeg, salt, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes to thicken. Remove from the heat. Spread the bread slices with the sauce and top with a couple slices of prosciutto, sliced artichokes, and Fontina.

Melt the Fontina under the broiler.

In a salad bowl, whisk together the remaining teaspoon of mustard, the vinegar, apricot jam, and basil. Whisk in the EVOO in a slow stream. Add the greens to the bowl and toss to dress.

Season the salad with salt and pepper and serve on large plates with the hot sandwiches alongside.

4 SERVINGS

This is the final variation on the Croque Monsieur. It is pretty good. It's funny, my daughter really liked the salad and couldn't get enough of it :) It's probably because I put extra apricot jam in the dressing (I got the sugar free kind). I used dried basil instead of fresh because my fresh basil went bad. Also, I didn't make the sauce again, I just used what was left over from the Croque Monsieur. I used the leftover bread I had because I couldn't find any Semolina bread, and I used some leftover arugula for the greens.