Francesinha Recipe
This francesinha recipe is for a delicious iconic sandwich from Porto. Full of flavors, this sandwich has layers of sausage, ham and steak wrapped in cheese. Topped with an egg and served with a secret sauce, get ready to dive into the rich and tasty flavors of Portugal’s second city.
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Servings: 2
Calories: 1979kcal
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Ingredients
For the sandwich
- 6 slices white bread
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ½ pound beef fillet cut into two
- ½ pound ham
- ½ pound linguica sausages or chorizo
- 1 pound cheese to melt
For the sauce
- 1 small onion finely chopped, 70 g
- 2 tomatoes ripe, grated, without skin or seeds, 100 g
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon Peri Peri sauce
- 12 oz lager beer
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup beef broth
- ¾ cup Port wine
- 1 tablespoon fine cornflour or cornstarch
- Salt and pepper to taste
For serving
- French fries
- 2 eggs small
Instructions
For the sauce
- Place a small saucepan over medium heat on the stove top. Melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, and a little salt.
- Cook until the onion is translucent and begins to brown. Immediately, add the crushed tomato, and the peri peri sauce.
- When the tomato is well cooked, add the beer, bay leaf, Port wine, and broth. Continue cooking uncovered for about ten more minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in a quarter cup of water. And add it to the sauce. Cook for about five more minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickens.
- Strain or blend the sauce and then return it into the hot pot. Set aside.
For the filling
- Season the steak with salt and pepper. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and once hot, cook the steak for three minutes on each side. Make sure it browns a little.
- Cut the sausages in half, lengthwise, as this prevents them from curling up during cooking.
- Cook for three minutes on each side. Toast the slices of sliced bread.
Assembling the francesinha
- Place one slice of bread on a plate and top with the sliced ham.
- Place the steak on top of the ham. Trim the edges of any protruding pieces of meat.
- Cover with another slice of bread and top with sausages.
- Finally, cover with another slice of bread. Cover your sandwich with 6 to 8 slices of cheese. Repeat for the other sandwich.
- If desired, with a cookie-cutter, make a notch in the cheese at the top of the sandwich. Crack open a small raw egg and place in the opening.
- Preheat oven on broiler
- Put the plate of sandwiches quite close to the top and bake for about 3 minutes. Check regularly to make sure the cheese has only melted and not turned brown.
- Carefully remove the plate and transfer sandwiches to two plates.
- Pour warm sauce over each sandwich covering it entirely.
- Surround each sandwich with plenty of french fries and enjoy.
- Serve some additional sauce to use while eating your sandwich.
Notes
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 1979kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 110g | Fat: 140g | Saturated Fat: 67g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 45g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 576mg | Sodium: 3584mg | Potassium: 1430mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 4063IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 1683mg | Iron: 5mg
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