Portuguese Francesinha Sandwich Recipe

Portuguese francesinha sandwich served with a beer sauce and French fries.

Portuguese Francesinha Sandwich Recipe

You may not think of Portugal when you think of the world's great sandwiches, but the Francesinha is genuinely one of the greats; it is properly fully loaded and comes with a beer and tomato sauce. When I say fully loaded, I am talking two types of sausage, slices of beef, ham, fried egg and cheese... be prepared to loosen that belt buckle!

Course Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Anglo Portuguese

Keyword francesinha, francesinha sandwich, francesinha sauce, portuguese francesinha

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 55

Total Time 1

Servings Servings

Calories 1670kcal

Author Brian Jones

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

1 Small Onion 100g
3 Garlic Cloves
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
50 ml Whisky 3 Tbsp
75 ml Ruby Port ⅓ Cup
330 ml Lager/Pilsner 1⅓ Cups
2 tablespoon Tomato Puree
125 ml Tomato Passata ½ Cup
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
½ teaspoon Sugar
Salt (to taste)

For the Sandwich:

4 Slices Thick White Bread 275g (approx total)
2 Pork Sausages 135g (total)
2 Cooking Chorizo Sausages 135g (total)
4 Slices Roast Beef 200g (total)
4 Slices Ham 200g (total)
6 Slices Emmental/Gouda Cheese 150g (total)
2 Large Eggs
Oil (for frying)
Salt (as required)
Pepper (as required)

Instructions

Cut the onion in half, peel it and cut it into a fairly fine (3-4mm or ⅛") dice.
Peel the garlic cloves and chop the as finely as you can.
Heat a 17cm or 7" saucepan over a medium-high heat and add the olive oil and onions, cook for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.

You want the garlic to go a little brown to add a hint of smokiness and almost bitterness to the sauce.

Add the tomato puree and cook for a 1-2 minutes stirring all of the time.
Add the whisky and and Worcestershire sauce to the pan and stir until everything comes together.
Add the beer, stir and reduce by a third.
Pour in the port, tomato passata, and stir in the Dijon mustard and sugar, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Have a taste just before you add the lid and add salt to taste.

Blend the sauce, return it to the pan, and bring it to a simmer and cook, covered, whilst you prepare the sandwich.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add a splash of oil and brown the sausages all over.
When the sausages are nicely browned, cut them in half and sear the cut side.
Whilst the sausages are cooking, fry the eggs in oil and season as desired with salt and pepper.
Whilst the eggs are cooking toast the bread under a grill or in a toaster.
To build your sandwich place a slice of bread on a serving plate, add a slice of beef and ham, add the cooked sausages and then another slice of beef and ham.
Top with a slice of bread, add the fried egg and slices of cheese, and pour over the hot sauce and serve.

Cut a hole in one of the slices of cheese to allow the yolk to show through.

Notes

The calorific value of this recipe will vary greatly depending on your choice of ingredients!

Nutrition