Not Paula Deen's Bread Pudding

How do you feel about bread pudding? You can be honest, it’s really okay. Does bread pudding sound like one of those “empty” foods to you? Are there underwhelming images of white bread, milk, raisins and white sugar floating somewhere off in the distance of your memory? Does this sound altogether unappealing?

Good. That kind of bread pudding probably should sound unappealing. But what about whole wheat challah bread mixed with sautéed summer vegetables, eggs, mozzarella cheese, and fresh herbs? Sounding a little better now isn’t it? I’ve never tried a sweet bread pudding because, frankly, it just doesn’t sound like my thing, but I would still confidently put my money on this savory baby to beat even the most decadent sweet bread pudding in a fight.
Since tackling my challah bread recipe earlier this summer I’ve been experimenting with savory bread puddings and I’ve come up with an incredibly adaptable and, thus far, fool-proof recipe. Trust me, I’ve tried every jumbled combination of farmer's market vegetables in this recipe over the weeks and I assure you that whether you throw in onions, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, green beans or even beet greens, this bread pudding will always stop you in your tracks.

So back to my question—bread pudding not your thing? Great, it’s not mine either. Now that we’ve gotten this settled, you should probably go find something better to do with your time. Maybe you should make this bread pudding. What? Yeah.
-EmB

Savory Bread Pudding (loosely adapted from 101cookbooks)
Some notes before you begin: you can use another bread of your choice but challah is particularly wonderful because it magically soaks up liquid like a sponge while maintaining its structure. As for vegetables, I would throw in whatever you have on hand that’s fresh and use as much as you want; the pudding works well regardless of how many vegetables you throw in.

One 1-pound loaf day old whole wheat challah bread (or another bread of your choice)
3 cups milk (I use skim, but it is your choice)
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped (or another vegetable of your choice, just sauté it according to your judgment)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, swiss or gruyere would work well)
Olive oil for sautéing vegetables

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 cooking pan.

In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook until they begin to soften. Add in the zucchini (or whatever vegetable you are using) and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini browns (about ten minutes). Remove from heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Using a serrated knife, roughly cut the bread into 1 inch cubes. Put the cubes into a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, broth, eggs, salt, pepper, and dill until well combined. Mix the sautéed vegetables and ¾ cup of the cheese into the wet ingredients and then pour the mixture over the bread and fold everything together until all of the bread is moistened and the ingredients seem well combined. Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese. Bake the pudding for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is browned and crisp and there is no liquid in the middle. If it is browned and the pudding doesn’t jiggle too much when you shake it, I’d call it done. Let pudding sit for ten minutes to cool and set before serving.

Take a bite while it’s still warm. Now what do you think of bread pudding?