Monte Cristo Casserole

Monte Cristo Casserole is a delicious treat that is great for breakfast or brunch. Now don't get me wrong, we may have eaten it a time or two for supper too! Made with delicious French bread and smoky ham it is a delight for any special occasion. And that Raspberry sauce is pretty awesome too!

Monte Cristo Casserole: A Special Treat

One of my favorite novels is Alexadre Dumas', "The Count of Monte Cristo". Not sure if that has anything to do at all with this beautifully named culinary delight. Monte Cristo sandwiches are a variation of the French sandwich Croque Monsier, lots of butter, cheese and ham between two slices of toasty French bread. Fantastic stuff!

Here in the south, we take a great thing and make is fab by turning it into a casserole. Traditionally, this delightful sandwich is toasted almost like a grilled cheese. When we developed this recipe, we tried to hold true to the Croque Monsier and bake it, keeping it crispy and decadent.

During the Holidays, we make a lot of dishes like this. Whether it be for our Thanksgiving table to mix things up for for even Christmas morning. Recipes like this one and our EASY BREAKFAST CASSEROLE are real winners as they can be made a head of time and baked up special for treasured moments.

How to make Monte Cristo Casserole

We love bread pudding. This recipe is made almost in the same manner by using torn pieces of bread with a beautiful sauce and egg mixture to bake it in. We also love this recipe because if you have any holiday ham leftover, it is a perfect way to use it up and change the whole flavor of the ham.

Enough talking right? Let's get to it!

~Ingredients~

• 1 loaf of French bread, sliced and cubed
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 pound of diced, cooked ham
• ½ pound sliced Swiss cheese cut into smaller pieces
• 6 eggs
• 1 & ¼ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

~For the Topping and Sauce~

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup softened butter
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• ¼ cup water

~Method~

1. Grease a 9 x13 baking pan. Place half of the cubed bread in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the ham and cheese. In a small bowl, whisk the dijon mustard with 1 tablespoon water. Drizzle over ham, cheese and bread. Top with remainder of cubed bread.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and pepper. Pour over top of casserole. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Uncover casserole and you should find that all liquid has been absorbed by the bread. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, softened butter and nutmeg. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole and bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until browned and bubbly.
4. While casserole is cooking, melt raspberry jam and water in a small sauce pan. Mix until smooth and thinned. Remove from heat and set aside. Serve casserole with Raspberry sauce or on the side.

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Making Warm Memories with Food

One of the great hopes I have is that I have created fond memories for my kids and family during the Holidays. I try to make things extra special for them by putting emphasis on our Faith, our Family and the act of breaking bread together.

When I think of my own childhood, its not gifts or toys that I always remember. It is time spent around our dinner table sharing with the people I love. Some of them have passed on now but I am blessed to still have those wonderful memories to look back on. Boy, if I only knew then what I know now. I sure hope I have done the same for my children.

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If you make this recipe, be sure and post it to Facebook or Instagram and tag us. We love pictures of food. Also, if you pin this recipe, we would appreciate that when you make it, you use the Made It function in Pinterest too. 

And as always, we would love it if you shared this recipe with your family and friends. Over to the side on this post and all of the others are handy dandy share buttons. We would sure be grateful if you shared the love!

Stuff We Used!