Savory Spinach And Cheese Bread Pudding Food

SPINACH & CHEESE STRATA

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and drained spinach and cook 2 minutes more. Set aside.
• Butter a 3-quart or 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread one third of the bread cubes in the dish and top evenly with one third of spinach mixture. (Try to break it up as much as possible so there are no huge clumps of spinach.) Sprinkle with one third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice, ending with cheeses.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the half-and-half, mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and whisk until well combined. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the strata. Cover the strata with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Bake the strata, uncovered, until puffed, set and golden brown all over top, 70-80 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving. It will settle a bit as it cools.
• Note: The cook time is based on the strata going immediately from the fridge to the oven. If it sits out at room temperature before baking, the cook time will be about 10 minutes less.

SAVORY SPINACH AND CHEESE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 F.
• Cut the bread into 1-inch chunks and spread on a baking sheet.
• Put in the oven for about 10 minutes-you're just drying it out a bit, you don't want to toast it. Let the bread cool.
• If needed, rinse the spinach to remove any dirt or grit. Lift out of the water and drain in a colander or salad spinner.
• Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the garlic or shallot. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic or shallot and cook, stirring, until softened and gently fragrant, about 3 minutes.
• Add the cleaned spinach and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring, until the ​ spinach is wilted , has released its liquid, and that liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
• Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Lightly beat or whisk. Add the milk and whisk to combine thoroughly. Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Set aside.
• Grate the cheese and set aside.
• Use the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to coat a large (9 x 13) baking dish. Add the bread cubes to the dish. Arrange the cooked spinach mixture in and on the bread cubes. Sprinkle the cheese all over the bread and spinach.
• Pour in the egg-milk mixture; it should cover everything. If any bread cubes poke out, push them down into the liquid. Let the entire thing sit for at least 30 minutes (make ahead tip: cover and chill up to overnight; let it sit out for about 30 minutes before baking to take off the chill). Letting it all sit allows the bread time to soak up the egg-milk mixture, which will lead to a much better final texture than if you bake it right away.
• Bake until just a tiny bit jiggly in the center, but basically set everywhere else and browned along the edge, about 35 minutes. If it's still jiggly and getting too browned on top, cover with foil to cook a bit more.
• Let sit at least 10 minutes and up to 30 before cutting into pieces to serve.
• Serve hot or warm.

SAVORY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage and cook until well-browned. Add onions, bell peppers, and green onions and saute until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add chicken broth and cook, stirring, for one minute. Remove skillet from heat.
• Place bread cubes in large mixing bowl. Add milk and half and half and stir. Allow to set until milk is completely absorbed, about 10 minutes.
• Add onion, peppers, and sausage mixture to bread. Fold in beaten eggs, cheeses, and seasonings. Spoon mixture into buttered 9 x 13" casserole. Can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight at this point. Remove from frig and allow to warm up on counter for 30 minutes before baking. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spread sour cream over top of casserole and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for additional 15 minutes, or until browned on top.

SAVORY ASPARAGUS BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan or casserole with nonstick cooking spray.
• Using a serrated knife, cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes 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.

SPINACH AND JACK CHEESE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degree F. In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat eggs, milk, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until blended.
• With rubber spatula, stir in spinach, Monterey Jack cheese, and bread cubes.
• Pour mixture into lightly greased 13" by 9" ceramic or glass baking dish.
• Bake bread pudding until browned and puffed, and knife inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes before serving.

MIDWESTERN SPINACH & CHEESE SAVOURY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Sautee onions and garlic in oil in small pan until soft but not browned. Set aside to cool.
• In large bowl, with wire whisk or fork, beat eggs, milk, cream, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until blended.
• With rubber spatula, stir in spinach, cheese, onion/garlic mixture and bread.
• Pour mixture into 13" by 9" ceramic or glass baking dish (do NOT use metal pans for ANY bread pudding as they can easily pick up a metallic flavor).
• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top of the pudding mixture.
• Bake bread pudding 20 to 25 minutes or until browned and puffed and knife inserted in center comes out clean.
• Remove bread pudding from oven; let stand 5 minutes before serving.

SAVORY BREAD PUDDING WITH SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 and spray an 8X8 pan.
• Whisk egg with milk, salt and pepper.
• Toss with the bread and set aside.
• Thaw and squeeze water out of spinach.
• In skillet, heat oil- and add onion and red pepper.
• Saute for about 5 minutes, then add mushrooms and garlic.
• Lower heat so garlic doesn't burn.
• Continue to saute for about 5 minutes.
• Add spinach and mix well and let cook about 5 minutes to remove any reamining moisture.
• Add the vegetables and 1/2 cup cheese to the egg/bread and toss well.
• Pour into prepared pan and top with 1/2 cup cheese.
• Bake at 350 for 50 minutes- then check to see if the center is set. Continue in 10 minute increments until set.
• (see above on optional water bath).

SPINACH AND TASSO BREAD PUDDING WITH GRUYERE CHEESE

Steps:

• Slice the bread into 1/2" slices and let dry out overnight.
• You may also dry them in a 200-225°F oven for about 30-40 minutes until they're completely dried; make sure you don't brown them.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy skillet (don't use non-stick).
• Add the diced tasso.
• Brown the tasso for 5 minutes until some of the fat has been rendered out and you've got some nice brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
• Remove from pan, drain on papertowels and set aside.
• Add the wine to the pan, making sure to scrape up all the browned bits.
• Reduce the wine by half.
• Pour out into a large bowl and set aside.
• In the same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter with the rest of the olive oil.
• Add the onions and garlic.
• Sauté for about 3 minutes, until onions are translucent.
• Add the spinach water and let it reduce.
• Add the chopped spinach.
• Continue to cook for 3 minutes, making sure that there's hardly any moisture left.
• Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• Whisk the eggs in a large bowl.
• Add the half-and-half.
• Add the molasses, Worcestershire, hot sauce, the reduced wine, about 2 teaspoons of salt, plenty of fresh ground black pepper and Creole seasoning to taste.
• Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish.
• Make one layer of dried bread slices on the bottom.
• Use little broken-off pieces if you need to fill any little spaces.
• Cover the bread evenly with the spinach mixture.
• Sprinkle evenly with 1/3 of the grated cheese.
• Spread the diced tasso evenly over the cheese.
• Season with more Creole seasoning and pepper.
• Sprinkle with more cheese.
• Add a second layer of bread,filling the holes with broken pieces as needed.
• Give the custard a final mix with the whisk and pour evenly over the entire surface of the bread, making sure you wet everything.
• Season the top with more black pepper and Creole seasoning, the remaining cheese and a sprinkling of salt.
• Wrap the pudding in plastic wrap.
• Weigh the top down with a couple of boxes of brown sugar, a bag or rice or whatever you have available.
• This helps compress the layers of the pudding so that the custard will soak all the way through allowing it to cook more evenly.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• When ready to cook,take the pudding out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 325-350°F for about one hour, until the edges and center are puffy.
• Let the pudding cool for about 5 minutes.
• Slice and serve.