Savory Bread Pudding
We used a baguette, and the extra crust made the croutons especially toothsome.
Although we typically condone the use of the best possible ingredients, since the proscuitto is being cooked in with a number of other ingredients, we used the pre-sliced variety, and it worked...
Peeling the leaves of thyme from the stem is surprisingly satisfying.
Although the recipe called for the bread mixture to be combined in the baking pan, we chose instead to use a bowl to mix the ingredients in the filling, crumbled in the goat cheese and then...
Flying chevre!
After we poured the custard over the filling, we pressed down gently, getting all the bread saturated!
We found it only took about 25 minutes to cook through. The pudding is ready when a chunk of bread near the center springs back when pressed.
Share
- ✉
-
Author Notes: I love savory breakfasts, and often make twists on traditionally sweet recipes for breakfast (like cheddar-leek-bacon waffles.) This was born from some leftover ham and boredom one Sunday morning. The heavy cream gives it a hint of creme brulee texture, but of course you can make it with something lighter like 2% milk. - kamileon
Food52 Review: Just think of this as strata gone wild. Kamileon has concocted a rich, custardy bread pudding containing everything but the kitchen sink that somehow doesn’t feel overwrought. A couple of details really make this dish stand out. First, you toast the bread cubes before combining them with the rest of the ingredients, which ensures a crunchy top layer. Second, you add raw, chopped shallot, which mellows slightly in the oven but still retains a nice, subtle kick. Prosciutto, goat cheese and parmesan make any additional salt gratuitous, while sliced mushrooms and copious amounts of fresh thyme give the bread pudding some depth. We found that mixing the dry ingredients in a large bowl before putting them in the baking dish helped prevent spillover, and our bread pudding spent a mere 25 minutes in the oven. If you poke it in the center, and it bounces back, you know it’s set! – A&M - A&M
Serves 4
- 3 cups diced bread
- 4 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 4 ounces chevre, finely crumbled
- 3 ounces prosciutto, diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 2 shallot, minced
- 4 crimini mushrooms, sliced
- Cracked pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup shredded gruyere or parmesan (optional)
- Toast bread cubes in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or so, stirring halfway through. Leave oven on at 350.
- In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk, and cream until thoroughly blended.
- In a 9x9 square baking pan, toss together bread cubes, prosciutto, shallot, mushrooms, thyme, and pepper.
- Gently stir in chevre.
- Pour egg mixture over bread cubes.
- If desired, garnish with a shredded cheese such as parmesan or gruyere, for a golden crust.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into center reads above 145 degrees.
- Your Best Brunch Eggs Contest Winner!
More Great Recipes
Share a Recipe
Enter one of our contests, or share that great thing you made for dinner last night.
Add a Recipe
3 months ago Karl Rosaen
Karl is Food52's VP of Technology.
I've made this recipe 3 times now and it always turns out great. One time I substituted the chevre with Zingerman Creamery's Sharon Hallow, a soft cow's cheese. Another time I used sausage instead of prosciutto, and a third I added some arugula. Like a frittata, this recipe is versatile!
3 months ago kamileon
We've also been using it as the basis for all sorts of variations. We did a manchego, spanish chorizo and caramelized onion variation that came out fantastically. It's more like a set of guidelines! As long as you keep the liquid to solid ratio about the same, and don't use too many really oily ingredients, you can't go wrong.
9 months ago lschrive
This is lovely - made tonight in a 9x13 pan - watched closely so it wouldn't dry out. I loved all the crispness the bigger pan gave it. Thank you so much - will definitely play around with this recipe some more this Fall!
about 1 year ago tenuta melagrana
Substituted 3 cups fresh cavolo nero (chiffonade cut), for the mushrooms, sautéed the shallots- key!- and substituted rosemary for thyme and added one more egg and 1/2 cup more milk with bit of nutmeg.
Heaven!
over 1 year ago Pat in SoCal
I love a versatile recipe that inspires me to improvise. I sauted the shallots and mushrooms in the skillet left behind from breakfast bacon and skipped the procuitto. Added some great oven dried green tomatoes and used Brie instead of chevre. It was a wonderful accompaniment to baby back ribs. The Parma on top is a must.
over 1 year ago QueenOfGreen
I've just returned from the DC book launch potluck, where I brought this recipe and Wow! This is HOLIDAY good! From a girl who doesn't like bread pudding! Thank you!
over 2 years ago JenniferF
The proportions in this recipe are perfect for subbing in whatever you like: mushrooms, havarti, peas, sage were all in the fridge and worked well!
over 3 years ago paulkog
Just made this today (with bacon instead of prosciotto) and the family loved it. Parmesan added a very nice melty touch!
thank you for this, now added to my repertoire.
over 3 years ago jc0418
my mouth is watering just reading this.. i cannot wait to make it!
over 3 years ago kitchengardener
this was definitely a do again-
i did substitute half and half for the milk and cream
and crisp bacon for prosciutto
we have tried lots of similar ones but this is a good combination of easy and unique flavors - we'll make this one for the holidays!
over 3 years ago flavoristabarr
I made this tonight with roasted butternut squash instead of the mushrooms and ricotta instead of the goat's cheese and it was FANTASTIC! Toasting the bread makes a welcome difference and the prosciutto is key.
over 3 years ago Oui, Chef
This really does sound outstanding, and it's a beautiful too. A perfect Fall/Winter dish, I can't wait to make it!
over 3 years ago Rohit Mitter
I'm not a huge fan of bread pudding, but this one sounds awesome! I agree with A&M, toasting the bread crumbs is a nice touch.
over 3 years ago blim8183
Congrats on winning the contest!
over 3 years ago Helen
This is a fantastic, no fail dish. Definitely one I'll return to for those Sundays when I agree to entertain, but I'm a little, uh, worse for the wear. And as a side note, it's seriously delicious, even cold out of the fridge.
over 3 years ago maryvelasquez
I found that the size of the pan was pretty important. The bread needs to be submerged in the custard. When I used a lightly larger rectangular baker, the bread cubes were a little dry. Flavors were still great, though.
over 3 years ago lala
I just made this for brunch today. I left out the parmesan (actually, just forgot), but it was really delicious. Excellent textures and flavors. Highly recommended.
over 3 years ago inthisguise
The eggs confuse me--so you mix together 4 whole large eggs plus one additional yolk? When I read the separation of the eggs and yolk in the ingredients list, I assumed they would be used in different places in the recipe. I'll try this on the weekend as written (all listed egg parts together) but it is a bit confusing.
over 3 years ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Yes, you whisk together the 4 whole large eggs with the 1 egg yolk. Have fun making it. Let us know what you think!
over 3 years ago Collin
I think this would be infinitely superior if you just used a better mushroom, just so that it could compete favorably with the other strong flavors in the dish. My choice would be for morels, but they're really expensive. Still, they're easy to find dried and if you reconstituted them would likely add more depth to the dish. But shiitake, porcini -- basically anything with flavor -- would be an improvement. Crimini just take up space.
over 3 years ago Helen
Collin- of course, you could adapt this recipe however you'd like, and indeed have some fun experimenting, but I have to say, having made this no fewer than 3 times in as many days, the criminis were great!