Porto Francesinha 🥪

Name: Porto Francesinha
Prep time: 24 min
Cook time: 36 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Portuguese
Ingredients: 1 thick sirloin or steak, lightly pounded; 1 linguiça or smoked pork sausage, halved lengthwise; 4 slices ham; 2 slices salpicão or pepper salami; 4 slices rustic bread (crust on); 4 slices mozzarella or Portuguese melting cheese; 1 tbsp lard or butter; 2 onions, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 2 bay leaves; 2 tbsp tomato purée; 100 ml port wine; 200 ml strong beef stock; 1 tbsp flour; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; few drops hot sauce; 120 ml beer (for frying); butter-fried potatoes to serve

Steak, sausage and ham stacked in bread, buried under molten cheese and bathed in a malty pepper sauce — Porto's glorious calorie bomb, allegedly named after a homesick French maid.

Porto Portuguese ⏱ 60 min Medium

Method

1

Make the sauce first: sweat onions, garlic and bay in butter until jammy (12 min). Add purée, cook 3 minutes; flame-deglaze with port, add stock and simmer 15 minutes.
2

Blend the sauce smooth, return to the pot; slacken flour with a ladle of sauce, stir in with mustard and hot sauce, simmer until it coats a spoon. Keep warm.
3

Fry the steak in screaming-hot lard 90 seconds a side with the beer splashed in to steam-caramelize; rest, then cut to bread size. Grill the sausage halves until blistered.
4

Build a stack in buttered ovenproof dish: bread, ham, steak, sausage, salpicão, bread. Repeat once for a double-decker, top with a final bread slice.
5

Lay cheese over the roof, spoon sauce around (not on) the stack, then extra cheese on top. Grill 5-7 minutes until the cheese bubbles and edges char.
6

Drench with the remaining warm sauce at the table and serve with fries cooked in the same butter pan. Portuguese rule: beer or vinho verde alongside, napkins within reach.

Comments

0/500

Porto Francesinha 🥪

Method

Comments

Related recipes

Lisbon Pastel de Nata 🥧

Caldo Verde 🥣

Caldeirada de Peixe 🍲