Savory Asparagus Bread Pudding

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Savory Asparagus Bread Pudding

 

One 1-pound loaf sourdough, or other crusty bread

3 cups milk

1 cup cvegetable broth

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1 pound asparagus

3 to 4 ounces oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyere, or Swiss cheese

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan or casserole with

nonstick cooking spray (hs note: I greased the pan w/ butter).

Using a serrated knife, cut the bread into 3/4-inch slices, then stack 4 or 5

slices of bread. Cut them into 3/4-inch cubes. Repeat with the remaining bread

and put all of the cubes in a large bowl.

In medium bowl, whish together the milk, broth, eggs, salt, pepper, and dill

until combined. Pour the mixture over the bread.

Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus and cut the spears into 1-inch pieces.

Add them to the bread along with the mushrooms and shallots. Fold everything

together well to combine the ingredients. Spoon them into the prepared pan and

pat down the top to compact the ingredients. Sprinkle the cheese evenly ever the

top.

Bake the pudding for 45 minutes, or until the top is browned and crisp and there

is no liquid in the center. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into portions.

 

Ann's Stress Saver Tip: Look for frozen asparagus tips and bags of unseasoned

bread cubes to save some prep time.

 

Ann's Eye Appeal Tip: Instead of mushrooms, add 1 cup sliced pitted black olives

for color contrast and a flavor complement to the asparagus (heidi's note: I

went this route).

 

Serves 6-8.

 

Author: Hands-Off Cooking: Low-Supervision, High-Flavor Meals for Busy People by

Ann Martin Rolke

Source: Heidi @ 101 Cookbooks

Formatted by Chupa Babi: 04.06.08

 

Heidi: I used a mix of the sourdough loaf and a whole wheat walnut loaf I had on

hand. The walnuts added nice texture to contrast the moistness of the rest of

the bread pudding. One thing to keep in mind, if you are substituting another

type of bread, some of the whole grain flour and nut breads are quite heavy,

heavier than a typical loaf of sourdough. I ended up using about 7 cups of bread

cubes for this recipe.

As I mentioned above, you can prep all the ingredients for this the day before.

The day you want to serve it you'll be five minutes from having it in the oven.

Heidi's head notes: Best to use stale bread, leave it out a day or two. Be

careful with those serrated knives, I've cut myself w/ the serrated knife on

stale bread more times than I can count.

 

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