The sofa supper for one

Smoked cheddar croque-monsieur with maple ham hock

Serves 1 Ingredients

For the croque

100g butter

2 tbsp plain flour 350ml milk

70g smoked cheddar, grated 20g Parmesan, grated Pinch nutmeg

2 tsp mustard (any)

2 thick slices of good bread For the ham

1 tsp olive oil 90g pulled ham hock 1 tbsp maple syrup 1 tsp grain mustard

Method

Put a small saucepan over a medium heat and melt half the butter. When bubbling, add the flour and stir until it comes together to make a thick paste. Cook, stirring for a minute. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring continuously until you have a thick white sauce. Add the cheese, nutmeg and mustard and stir until the cheese has melted.

 Set a frying pan over a medium heat, add the oil and fry the ham hock until it starts to brown. Add the maple syrup and mustard and fry, stirring occasionally so it caramelises. Remove from the pan and set aside.

 Keep the pan on the heat and melt the remaining butter. Pop a slice of bread in the pan, spoon over plenty of cheese sauce and top with another slice of bread. Then spoon a little more sauce over that, spreading it so it’s in a thin layer on the top slice of bread. Fry for about three minutes, spooning escaping cheese sauce up onto the sides of the bread. Then flip so the cheese sauce you’ve spread on top has a chance to brown. You could even spread a little more sauce on the slice that is now on top, flip and fry it again.

Serve with a mound of ham hock, mustard and pickles.

If you’ve made too much cheese sauce, the good news is that it’ll sit quite happily in the fridge for a few days for your future enjoyment.