Francesinha
Porto’s hefty sandwich: thick sliced bread with meats and sausages, covered in melted cheese and drenched in a spicy tomato and beer sauce. It’s served with chips.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of thick sliced bread
- 2 thin beef steaks
- 2 fresh sausages and 2 slices of linguiça or chorizo
- 2 slices of cooked ham
- 8 slices of melting cheese
- 2 eggs (optional)
- For the sauce: 330 ml beer, 200 ml beef stock, 2 tablespoons tomato purée, 1 splash of port, 1 chilli, 1 tablespoon cornflour
How to make it at home
- Make the sauce: boil the beer with the stock, tomato, port and chilli for 10 minutes and thicken with the cornflour dissolved in cold water.
- Griddle the steak and the sausages (split in half).
- Build the sandwich: bread, ham, sausages, linguiça, steak and bread.
- Cover it with the cheese and grill it in the oven until it melts down the sides.
- Top with a fried egg if you like, pour over the hot sauce and serve with chips.
The trick: Every place has its own sauce: the port and the chilli are the key.