The ham and cheese sandwich is a classic and a while ago I came across a new way of enjoying that classic, in the form of a monte cristo sandwich . A monte cristo sandwich is a ham and cheese sandwich that is dipped in french toast batter, fried up and then served with strawberry or raspberry jam or even maple syrup. The sweetness of the jam added to the otherwise savoury ham and cheese sandwich was surprisingly good and I have been addicted ever since. The idea of a mote cristo quesadilla has been percolating in the back of my head for a while now and now that I had some ham leftovers I seized the opportunity to try making it.
I started off with the basics of the ham and cheese sandwich, the ham and cheese, and then I added some mustard for some zing and I figured that I might as well add some jam inside the quesadilla as well. Since I was using ham from the leftover apricot glazed ham I decided to go with apricot preserves but raspberry or strawberry jam would also be great. The next question was whether to batter the quesadilla up like french toast or not… I knew that that was an essential part of the monte cristo sandwich but I was not sure how a french toast quesadilla would work out. In the end I decided to try it and see how it worked.
The french toast battered quesadilla took a bit longer to cook and it was a bit softer that the quesadillas that I am used to but otherwise it worked out really well! The sweet and savoury combination was even better in quesadilla form. (There was less of that pesky bread to get in the way of the flavour.) I really enjoyed the flavour combinations of this quesadilla and the confectioners sugar sprinkled on top was nice extra sweet touch. I served the quesadilla with some extra apricot preserves for dipping the quesadillas into.
Alright, enough with the ham leftovers already! I will take a break and freeze the rest for later. 🙂
Monte Cristo Quesadillas
ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 2 (8 inch) tortillas
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1/2 cheddar cheese (grated)
- 1/4 cup cooked ham (sliced or shredded, warmed)
- 1 tablespoon apricot jam (or other flavour)
directions
- Mix the egg, milk and vanilla in a large shallow bowl.
- Melt the butter in a pan.
- Dip one side of a tortilla in the egg mixture and then place it in the pan.
- Spread the mustard out over the top of the tortilla and cover with one handful of cheese, the ham and the remaining cheese.
- Spread the jam on one side of the remaining tortilla, dip the other side into the egg mixture and place it on top of everything in the pan with the egg mixture facing up.
- Let cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 3-4 minutes and flip. (Tip: I slid the quesadilla onto a plate and then flipped the pan, placed it on top of the plate, flipped the pan upright again and removed the plate.)
- Let cook until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes.
- Slide the tortilla out of the pan, cut it into triangles and serve topped with powdered sugar and a side of jam for dipping. (Note: You could also drench the quesadilla in maple syrup!)
dawn says
you mean you really do STILL have leftover ham? wow. you must eat like a bird. and i need to know do you like have a huge freezer to store all these leftovers? i would love to see your spice rack. lol i know, i always ask a ton of stuff don't i?
Memória says
These quesadillas are such a great idea!! Bookmarking this recipe!
KP says
Awesome idea!!
Jenn says
Genius idea, Kevin!!! i love the sandwich version, but I think this is great for those two don't necessarily want the bread potion. Saving this one for sure.
Kathryn says
This sounds yummy! I think I am going to give this a try. Thanks for sharing this with us!
tamilyn says
Holy Mother of God
Ana Powell says
Good heavens
Its early morning and my eyes are wide open looking at your photo.
Absolutely delicious, awesome photo.
Have a great Sunday x
jose manuel says
Que mezcla tan curiosa, dulce y saldo, tiene una pinta estupenda. Un saludo
Joanne says
Monte cristos are one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures. The quesadillas are such a unique idea!
Nina Timm says
Love sandwiches and grilled with melted cheese….. well need I say more?
Rosa's Yummy Yums says
An interesting combo! Those quesadillas look fantastic!
Cheers,
Rosa
Belinda @zomppa says
This looks soooooooooooooooooo good – what a great idea. Perfect for today.
SpiceRack says
To cook this delicious dish, you must have fresh and pure ingredients. Your spice rack must have done its job well in storing the best ingredients you have. Your Quesadillas are so mouth watering and tasty to just by the looking at the picture.
Ed Schenk says
Great idea! Sounds much lighter that a regular Monte Cristo!
Chris says
I love monte cristos so the idea of converting them to quesedillas like this is right up my alley. Great spin, Kevin.
Joyce says
This looks completely glorious. And far cooler than real Monte Cristos.
Amy Wolf says
I love your blog and your enthusiasm for trying new things. This recipe looks delicious!
Melissa says
How big of a ham did you make? I lurve ham. I was thinking enough already of the feta! I despise feta cheese.
But ham is pure awesome.
Chef Aimee says
Pure awesome!
Anonymous says
ok, thi smade me drool.
I bet that would be great with leftover pancakes, especially ones with a subtle maple flavour.
Cucinista says
Wow, this recipe, technique and ingredients is making my head spin… in a very good way!
Susan @ SGCC says
Very clever idea! I love a good monte cristo and these sound great. Perfect for a party!
Anonymous says
I literally just finished eating a leftover Monte Cristo from Cheddar's for lunch when I came to your website and saw this. Looks tasty! 🙂
Anonymous says
WOW< what a great idea!!! Thank you again!!
Jane says
I didn't know about Monte Cristo sandwiches … these sound so good they should probably be illegal!
Jane says
I didn't know about Monte Cristo sandwiches … but these sound so good they should probably be illegal!
James says
quesadilla for breakfast! awesome!
Dimah says
These sound so good!
Anonymous says
OMG, Kevin. What a fantastic mind you have! Have you had cooking lessons? I am signed up for web cooking classes, and will begin in a few weeks. What I have discovered, in reading your "lead-up" to the recipes, is the "method" you are using. That is the main thing I will be learning, and all of the subtleties that branch out from the methods.
Thank you SO much for sharing you! S2