One of many possible variants of a savoury bread & not-butter pudding.

This one used up left-over mashed carrot & swede, layering with stale bread & rocket leaves. Serve it as a side dish anywhere you would otherwise serve potatoes.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Mashed carrot & swede	200-ish	grams
Stale Bread	200-ish	grams
Onion, carrot & celery	1 of each
Bay Leaves	2
Butter	20	grams
Rocket Leaves (optional)	1	handful
Breadcrumbs	1	tablespoon
Fresh herbs (mix of parsley, sage or thyme)	1	handful
Milk	200	millilitres
Eggs	3

 

Main Equipment

1. Approx 30x20cm ovenproof dish
2. Food processor to make bread crumbs (grating or roughly chopping will work if you don’t have a processor)

Method

1. Roughly chop the onion, carrot & celery.
2. Place the milk in a pan with the onion, carrot, celery & bay leaves. Bring just to the boil then allow to infuse by leaving to cool for around 30 minutes.
3. Slice the bread into slices around 1cm thick.
4. Spread each slice of bread with the mashed carrot & swede.
5. Grease an oven dish to fit your finished dish – around 30x20cm should do.
6. Place a layer of mash-spread bread at the bottom of the dish.
7. Place a layer of rocket.
8. Repeat with as many layers as you have bread & rocket for.
9. Strain the cooled milk & whisk in the eggs.
10. Pour over your infused milk & egg mixture – you want it to sit just below the surface of the bread as the bread will soak up some of the liquid & you want a crunchy top.
11. Decorate the top with bread crumbs & fresh herbs – I was also using up some leftover bread sauce when I made this one so I alternated in diagonal stripes. You want a bit of a crispy top so I definitely recommend some bread crumbs, seeded bread if you have them.
12. Dot with butter – by which I mean put little bits of butter evenly across the surface. This will ensure you get a golden crispy top rather than just burnt.
13. Leave for 15-20 mins to allow the bread to soak up the liquid before cooking. This ensures you get an even textured dish rather than omelette at the bottom & soggy bread on top. Weight the top with a plate if you want to expedite the process.
14. Bake in a medium-hot (200c) oven for 30-40 minutes – until set with crunchy golden top.

Serve anywhere you would serve mashed potatoes – with roasted meats works particularly well.