Francesinha

Molho (the sauce)

• 30 g butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 200 ml lager
• 200 ml tomato passata
• 200 ml beef stock
• 50 ml port
• 1 bay leaf
• piri-piri and Worcestershire, a good hit of each, to taste
• a splash of milk, for body (lactose-free works; reads sweeter)
• 1 tsp cornflour, slaked in water

Sandwich

• 4 slices white bread, thick, toasted
• 200 g steak, thin, seared and sliced
• 2 fresh sausages, fried and sliced
• 4 slices cured ham
• 4 slices cooked ham
• 200 g melting cheese, sliced, to blanket
• 2 eggs, fried, to top
• chips, freshly fried, to serve

Build the molho

1. 1

   Melt 30 g butter and sweat 1 chopped onion and 1 clove garlic until soft, stir in 1 tbsp tomato paste and cook it out 1–2 min (raw tomato paste tastes tinny), then deglaze with 200 ml lager, scraping the pan. Add 200 ml passata, 200 ml beef stock, 50 ml port, 1 bay leaf, a good hit of piri-piri and a dash of Worcestershire. Simmer 15–20 min, blend smooth, then finish with a splash of milk for body and thicken with 1 tsp cornflour slaked in water to a glossy, pourable gravy.

   25m

   Keep it HOT — a cool molho congeals the cheese and kills the dish. (Lactose-free milk works; it reads sweeter, so lean on the mustard/Worcestershire and a touch more piri-piri.)

   Molho à Francesinha (Beer-Tomato-Stock Sauce)

Assemble and flood

1. 2

   While it simmers, fry 2 sausages and sear 200 g thin steak, then slice both. Toast 4 slices thick white bread. Build the sandwiches, dividing the fillings between them: bread, steak, sausage, the 4 slices cured ham and 4 slices cooked ham, 2 slices of each per sandwich, then a slice of bread on top.

   12m
2. 3

   Drape the whole thing with 200 g melting cheese so it's completely blanketed, and melt under a hot grill until bubbling. Fry chips while the cheese melts.

   6mhigh

   Tip: Hard/aged melting cheeses are naturally very low in lactose; a lactose-free cheese browns at a lower temperature, so pull it a touch earlier.

3. 4

   Sit each sandwich on a plate, top each with a fried egg (2 eggs in all), FLOOD the plate with the piping-hot molho — this is not a drizzle, the sandwich should sit in a pool — and bank the chips around it to soak up the overflow.

   3m

   The molho must be piping hot when it hits the plate so the cheese stays molten.