Feta thyme bread pudding
Or a quick and tasty Italian style surprising soft and crunchy bread pudding
How can you say No to bread pudding?
You know that feeling — staring at an empty pantry thinking, hmmm, what can I cook from all the basic ingredients hanging loose on semi-empty shelves? That's exactly what happened to me the other night, while making excuses not to go out on a winter evening for shopping. Bread pudding it is — I lit up when the idea popped into my mind. I went to one of my favorite cookbooks for inspiration: Ottolenghi's vegetarian Plenty More, a must for all vegetarians out there. I tweaked it a bit to match the ingredients I had at home and got to making dinner. It's pretty easy, right? Everybody loves bread pudding — what's not to love about a custard egg-milk-bread combo?
Italian style bread pudding basic road to success
Yes, you can go wrong with bread pudding, and no, you can't just mix everything together and end up with gorgeous strata.- Use toasted bread — once we add the egg-milk mix, the bread will absorb less liquid and stay crunchier.
*You can use any bread, stale or fresh. The common belief is that stale tastes better — it doesn't. I've tried every variation and after toasting, they all taste the same. That said, using stale bread is still the best way to make the most of old bread you've got lying around.
- Don't overbake. We want the custard to stay a bit runny so every slice of bread pudding has some sauce.
Method
- 1
Prepare the Pudding· 30 min
Cut bread slices into 2cm/ 1 inch thick and cut every slice in half, toast in the oven on 160°c/ 330°F for 15 minutes. Meanwhile throw onions to a medium saucepan and cook for 2 minutes until transparent, add the garlic and the thyme and cook for 2 more minutes. Pour the milk and double cream, bring to a gentle simmer. Break the eggs and place in a bowl, add the milk mix slowly and whisk constantly to create a custard. Add a pinch of salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper.
- 2
baking time· 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 185°c/ 370°F. Place toasted bread on a 22cm x 29cm pan (10 x 10 x 2 inches), pour the eggs and milk mix over the toasted bread slices. Spread the feta on the bread and grate the Parmesan on top. Put the pan in the oven for about 17-20 minutes, we don't want to get the bread pudding completely dry so make sure to take the pan out no longer than 20 minutes.
Jaron Kimhi
Jaron Kimhi — self-taught home cook from Tel Aviv, writing and cooking every recipe on this site himself. 20+ years of tinkering in the kitchen, leaning toward slow cooking, classic technique, and honest ingredients.
More recipes by Jaron →
