Francesinha

Name: Francesinha
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients: 2 slices white sandwich bread; 80 g beef steak; 40 g fresh linguiça or chipolata sausage; 30 g cooked ham; 50 g flamengo or mild Gouda cheese; 1 egg; 2 tsp butter; 1 tsp sunflower oil; 20 g onion; 1 clove garlic; 120 ml lager beer; 100 ml beef stock; 60 g tomato passata; 1 tsp tomato purée; 1 bay leaf; 0.5 tsp piri-piri sauce; 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tbsp port wine; 1 tsp cornflour; salt and black pepper

Porto's famous layered sandwich: toasted bread stacked with steak, sausage and ham, sealed under melted cheese and drowned in a spicy beer-and-tomato sauce, with a fried egg on top.

Mains 25g+ protein

50 min15 prep · 35 cookMedium834 kcalper serving

Instructions

Start the sauce. Melt 2 tsp of the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and sweat 20 g finely chopped onion with 1 clove crushed garlic for 4 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Stir in 1 tsp tomato purée and fry it for 1 minute to darken.
Pour in 120 ml lager and let it bubble hard for 2 minutes to drive off the rawness, then add 100 ml beef stock, 60 g passata, 1 tbsp port, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 0.5 tsp piri-piri and 1 bay leaf. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes until glossy and reduced by about a third.
Fish out the bay leaf and press the sauce through a fine sieve back into the pan. Slake 1 tsp cornflour with a splash of cold water, whisk it in and cook 1 minute more until the sauce coats a spoon but still pours. Season with salt and pepper and keep it hot over the lowest heat.