Open-Faced Sandwiches with Bechamel Sauce

This is a recipe (or at least a food idea…not much of a recipe invovled) I got from my mother-in-law….no idea where she got it 🙂

It’s tasty, and a different twist on an open-faced sandwich. We don’t have it often, so I resurrected it this week as something different.

Open Faced Sandwiches with Bechamel Sauce

*Makes 4 sandwiches*

4 slices of a crusty bread — an italian, or portugese style, sliced on an angle

4 slices of white american cheese (can use other, this is the standard recipe)

approx 1/2 lb. thick-sliced homestyle ham (from a deli)

1 tomato, sliced

1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and drained

butter or margarine

Directions

– Preheat your broiler

– Lightly toast the bread slices and cover with a thin layer of butter or margarine

– Place toasted slices on a cookie sheet, butter-side up, and layer on the following in this order: ham, bacon, tomato, cheese

– Place in broiler and broil until cheese is melted and sandwich is hot

– Drizzle bechamel sauce (recipe below) over sandwiches just before serving

Bechamel Sauce

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 1/4 cups milk, heated

Directions

– Melt butter in a pan over medium heat

– Stir in flour and cook until paste bubbles, stirring constantly (about 2 minutes)

– Add hot milk, bring the mixture to a boil

– Add salt and pepper to taste, then continue to stir for 2-3 minutes over a lower heat, until desired thickness

– Remove from heat immediately

– To make this in advance, remove from heat and cover with wax paper to cool, preventing a film from covering the top. Then refrigerate.  When ready to use, put back in a saucepan over medium/medium-low heat and re-heat. May need to add a bit of milk if it is too thick.