When you have two-day old french bread that you forgot to stick in the freezer, this is the dish—Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding— that you want to turn to. Despite its unpretentious name, this dish is something that you might find on the menu in an upscale french bistro. It is the perfect dish to make for Sunday dinner, and/or when you have guests over.
Special Ingredients
- Gruyere cheese
- Bacon
- Mushrooms
- Leeks
- Eggs
- Thyme
Start with some basics: Gruyere cheese, bacon, mushrooms, cream, leeks, eggs, and thyme.
Cube the bread, lightly toast it, and set aside when finished. While the bread is toasting, dice up (separately) the bacon, leeks, and mushrooms. Grate the cheese.
Then, fry up the bacon, keeping the grease in the skillet (you’ll need it) but removing the bacon into a separate big bowl. Then fry up the leeks. Add to “bacon bowl” when finished. Then do the mushrooms, and add to the same bacon bowl.
In a separate bowl, add the other ingredients (milk, thyme, eggs, cheese). Mix well. We’ll call this the “wet” bowl.
Combine the bacon bowl with the wet bowl. Then, fold in the bread. Let sit for 15 minutes so the bread absorbs the mixture.
You can put in a casserole dish or Dutch oven, which I opted to do, and it worked out fine.
Then bake for about 45 minutes.
Serving suggestions
Serve with rotisserie chicken, and a light salad for an amazing meal.
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Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding
Equipment
- 3-quart casserole dish (13"x 9")
Ingredients
- 1 loaf day-old french bread, cut (or torn) into bite-sized pieces
- 12 ounces thick-cut bacon, dices
- 1 large leek, cleaned and diced
- 1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, oyster, and porcini), sliced
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
- 2 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon minced thyme
- Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
- Butter or cooking spray
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook bacon over a skillet until bacon is slightly crisp. Using a slotted spoon, set aside bacon in a medium sized bowl (we'll call this the "bacon bowl").
- Add leek to skillet and cook until soft, about 4 minutes, and remove and set aside in bacon bowl when finished.
- Working in batches, add mushrooms to the skillet and cook until golden. Remove and add to bacon bowl.
- In a separate bowl (we'll call this the "wet" bowl), whisk together the milk, cream, parmesan, herbs, eggs, and salt and pepper.
- Stir in bacon mixture (it should be a little cool by now), then the bread, and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Grease (with butter or cooking spray) the baking dish and transfer the mixture.
- Sprinkle with the Gruyere cheese and bake in oven for about 45 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
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