I had never heard of Francesinha before my son asked me if I could try making these Portuguese sandwiches. My kids watch a lot of food youtube and they give me so many good ideas for meals. I love making new things I haven’t tried before. It is so much fun. This sandwich reminds me a bit of a croque monsieur/madame sandwich. It is cheesy and baked and you need and knife and fork to eat it.
Francesinha starts with slices of white bread, filled with a mix of meats and cheese and topped with a really addicting sauce. There are many variations to the sauce and apparently the recipes are held close to the chest. They generally involve beer, port wine, tomato sauce, peri peri sauce, onion/garlic and some have cheese. The sauce ingredients sounded a bit weird to me, but I’m still thinking about this addicting sauce and want to eat it again.
These are easier to make than they look, as the sauce is just whisking some things together in a pot and the sandwich is filled with sausage, ham and beef (I left out the ham in ours since I wanted to top with egg and that seemed like enough). Serve fries along side this sandwich to make it traditional. I’m not going to lie, this is splurge meal. Make sure you are super hungry and haven’t eaten for a while when you make these. I finished my entire sandwich, because I couldn’t stop eating it.
Portuguese Francesinha Sandwich
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 bottle blond beer
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp port wine
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 tbsp salted butter
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp piripiri hot sauce I used the one I linked to in the recipe
For the sandwiches:
- 12 slices white bread
- 4 fried eggs optional
- 4 slices ham optional
- 2 cups thinly sliced beef
- 4 linguicas or smoked chorizo sausages
- 8 slices cheese I used muenster
- salt and pepper
- 4 eggs optional
Instructions
- To make the sauce, heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until lightly browning, then add in the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes, taste and adjust the seasoning. Mix the cornstarch with a tsp of water and whisk in to thicken. Set aside until ready to top the sandwiches.
- Heat the oven to 350. In 4 of the slices of bread use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out a circle from the center. This will be the center layer of the sandwich where you put the filling.
- Cut the sausage into bite sized pieces and fry in a skillet over medium heat until browned and hot. Move to a plate. Heat a tbsp of oil in the skillet over high and add the beef along with some salt and pepper. Fry without moving until browned, then stir. Season with a little Worcestershire if you want, and move to a plate.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment and lay out 4 slices of bread. Top with a slice of cheese, then ham if using, then add a slice with the hole in it. Fill the hole with the beef and sausage. Top this with the final slice of bread. Place another slice of cheese on top and place into the oven for 5-10 minutes until melted and browning. If using fried eggs, fry them quickly while the bread toasts.
- Remove from the oven and top with egg if using and pour some sauce over the sandwiches. Serve with a knife and fork and additional sauce on the side.