Savoury cheese, leek & tomato bread pudding

Name: Savoury cheese, leek & tomato bread pudding
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 250 g Essential Cherry Tomatoes; 1 leek, cut into slices; 1 tsp Essential Olive Oil; 50 g Essential Butter, softened; 60 g Belazu Vegan Ve-Du-Ya Paste; 1 garlic clove; 200 ml whole milk; 200 Essential Feta; 400 g bread, cut into 1.5cm slices (I used two-day-old San Francisco sourdough-style bloomer); 40 g Essential Mature Cheddar, grated; 220 ml double cream; 2 Essential Free Range White Eggs

This Elly Curshen recipe is a great dish for any time of day. You can do all the prep in advance, let the assembled dish rest in the fridge overnight, then pop it in the oven in the morning.

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Vegetarian

Serves4
CourseMain meal
Prepare30 mins
Cook35 mins
Total time1 hr 5 mins
Plussoaking

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Ingredients

250g Essential Cherry Tomatoes
1 leek, cut into slices
1 tsp Essential Olive Oil
50g Essential Butter, softened
60g Belazu Vegan Ve-Du-Ya Paste
1 garlic clove
200ml whole milk
200 Essential Feta
400g bread, cut into 1.5cm slices (I used two-day-old San Francisco sourdough-style bloomer)
40g Essential Mature Cheddar, grated
220ml double cream
2 Essential Free Range White Eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Toss the cherry tomatoes, leek and olive oil in a bowl. Season generously with sea salt flakes and spread in a single layer on a lined baking tray. Roast for 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are starting to char and collapse.
In a food processor, blend the butter, vegan ’nduja, garlic, 100ml milk and 50g feta. Season with pepper. Spread over each slice of bread, then cut each into halves or quarters, depending on size. Leave any remaining mixture in the food processor.
Butter a deep, 20cm square cake tin or similar ovenproof dish and arrange a layer of the buttered bread in the bottom. Top with ½ the roasted tomatoes and leeks and sprinkle with ½ the Cheddar and 50g feta, crumbled in large chunks. Top with another layer of buttered bread, roasted vegetables, and finish with the remaining feta and Cheddar.
Pour the cream and remaining milk into the food processor (containing the leftover butter mixture). Break in the eggs and season well. Pulse a few times, to combine. Pour this mixture over the bread, pushing down a little to ensure it soaks up the liquid. Set aside for at least 10 minutes, or overnight in the fridge.
5 Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4, then bake for 35-40 minutes, or until puffed up, golden and piping hot. It may take longer to cook if it was well chilled. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving in squares, with a big green salad. Leftovers can be covered with foil and reheated in a hot oven.

Cook’s tip

Avoid wasting any bread that’s destined for toast, by preslicing a loaf or loaves and freezing them as soon as you bring them home. You can then toast them directly from frozen.

Make croutons for soup and salads by dicing stale bread and spreading them out in a single layer on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, season and bake at 180ºC, gas mark 4, until the croutons are dried and really crunchy. You can also sprinkle dried herbs or grated parmesan over the bread before baking for croutons with extra flavour.

Pangrattato (meaning breadcrumbs in Italian) is one of my favourite uses for stale bread. Sometimes referred to as ‘poor man’s parmesan’, pangrattato is a mixture of fried breadcrumbs that are sprinkled over pasta dishes, in place of grated hard cheese. Simply tear bread up and pulse in a food processor until you have rough breadcrumbs, then fry in a mixture of olive oil and butter, until the crumbs are browned and crisp. Add some crushed garlic if you like and continue to fry for 1-2 minutes, then remove from heat. The mixture will crisp up as it cools.