Croque Monsieur Pizza

Fire up your Cru oven.

For the bechamel: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add the flour and whisk together until incorporated. Whisk constantly and cook, without letting it brown, essentially forming a roux. Slowly drizzle in the milk while whisking the roux. Bring to a boil and season with salt, ground white pepper, and nutmeg. Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Store in a clean bowl and lay a piece of saran wrap right on the surface of the béchamel to avoid a skin forming. 

For the frico: Heat a nonstick pan on your stove over medium high heat. Sprinkle grated Parmigiano Reggiano onto the pan and let brown. Carefully lift frico out of the pan and let cool.

When ready to assemble, spread béchamel sauce onto pizza dough (you won’t need all of the sauce, just some; save the rest for other applications or more pizza!). Sprinkle Gruyère cheese over bechamel. Spread ham on top of cheese.

For a traditional Neapolitan crust bake at 800°-900°F for about 90 seconds turning frequently to prevent burning. For a firmer crust bake around 650°F for abut 4 minutes rotating as needed to ensure even baking. Whatever your temperature always watch your pizza closely. 

If your crust is cooked but you want your toppings to brown more, slide the peel underneath your pizza and lift the entire pizza closer to the oven ceiling. As the intense heat rises in the oven, it gathers in the oven's roof. This method takes advantage of that radiant heat, which further caramelizes your cheese and toppings. 

Pull the pizza from your Cru, then immediately spread broken up frico to finish your pizza.