savoury bread pudding with mushrooms and parmesan cheese

October 19, 2009

Good day to you! It certainly is delightful being back in Minneapolis and the comfort of my own home. The weather here is ridiculously gorgeous at the moment. Think autumnal, bright, sunny and highs of 65. Amazing.

Dan and I got to go to a neighborhood potluck Sunday. We made a savoury bread pudding and since we were silly and took lots of photos of the process, I thought I would post a step by step. I know this has been the case a lot recently, but this is not the healthiest recipe ever but there are definitely steps you could take to make it more so, like using less butter, or substituting olive oil and using more milk instead of cream. Amping up the veggie content would also be a great plan.

If you’ve been reading my blog a while you will know that generally I do eat pretty healthily (I promise!) but I love exploring new recipes that are rich in flavor and all that jazz. Sometimes I make the effort to healthify recipes and other times I’ll follow them to the tee. It just depends on my mood. But I am a strong proponent of the idea that once you have reached a happy place with weight and exercise, everything in moderation is a recipe for happy times.

SO…..

Savoury Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese
taken from epicurious.com

Ingredients

  • 1 (1-pound) loaf crusty country-style white bread
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
  • 1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (such as crimini, button, portobello, and stemmed shiitake), thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
  • 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
  • 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 3 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (we used 2 cups heavy whipping cream and skim milk for the rest)
  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Step by Step Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Cut bread with crust into 1-inch cubes (about 10 cups loosely packed).


Look how fast my arm is moving – this was a work out!


Voila! Bread!


2. Place cubes in very large bowl. Add oil, thyme, and garlic; toss to coat.


3. Spread cubes out on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.


4. Bake until golden and slightly crunchy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Return toasted bread cubes to same very large bowl.

5. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, celery, and bell pepper. Sauté until soft and juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes.


6. Add sautéed vegetables and parsley to bread cubes.


7. Whisk heavy cream, eggs, salt, and ground pepper in large bowl.


8. Mix custard into bread and vegetables.


9. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Sprinkle cheese over. [This can be prepared 1 day ahead, covered and refrigerated].


10. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake stuffing uncovered until set and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes.


Ta-da!! This was delicious and people seemed to love it at the potluck. I think we could have used more mushrooms (we didn’t end up using the required amount) and more bread so that every bite had one of those elements. As it was this tasted like a sort of hybrid quiche/ souffle/ stratta, but super delicious. It could definitely be enjoyed solo with a salad but also makes an awesome side.

By the way love muffins, I am still catching up on a week’s worth of all your awesome blog posts so please bear with me if my commenting is sub-par. I’ll be all caught up soon!

What’s your favorite thing to bring to a pot luck?
I normally like to do something simple like a pasta salad – i.e. something that can’t go wrong!

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