Savory Bread Pudding With Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese

Submitted by KathyP53

"Great brunch or side dish!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 10-12

ingredients

• 1 lb crusty bread (1 loaf rustic white bread)
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 lb assorted fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 1⁄2 cups finely chopped onions
• 1 1⁄2 cups thinly sliced celery
• 1⁄3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 1⁄2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 8 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Butter 13x9" glass baking dish. Cut bottom crust and shor ends off bread and discard. Cut remaining bread with crust into 1" cubes (about 10 cups loosely packed). Place cubes in very large bowl. Add oil, thyme, and garlic; toss to coat. Spread cubes out on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until golden and slightly crunchy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Return toasted bread cubes to same very large bowl.
3. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-heat. Add mushrooms, onion, celery, and bell pepper. Saute until soft and juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add sauteed vegetables and parsley to bread cubes.
4. Whisk heavy cream, eggs, salt, and ground pepper in large bowl. Mix custard into bread and vegtetables. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. SPrinkle cheese over. Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake stuffing uncovered until set and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes.

Reviews

[grfox33]

Dear Cam7. When I am reducing the fat in a recipe I have found that if I use 1/3 of the eggs as whole eggs the rest in whites I get a better texture and taste. And for the cream....I use 1/2 2% milk the rest fat free 1/2 & 1/2. this combo seems to work pretty good for me. It gives you some of the whole egg taste and some of the "cream" taste with out sooooo many fat calories. Then alter from this starting point per your taste. I've not ruined as many first time recipes with this mix of ingredients. Good Luck.

 

[cam78665]

I made this for the first time last night. I thought it was pretty good but DH thought it was just OK. I didn't make the recipe as written, since we are trying to eat healthier, but I don't think the changes I made adversely affected the results significantly. Instead of the 1/4C of olive oil, I sprayed the bread cubes with olive oil Pam; I substituted fat free half & half for the heavy cream; and substituted egg beaters for the whole eggs. I used 2 C of egg beaters (the equivalent of 8 eggs) but I think that was a bit much. Next time I will need to cut back on the amount of egg beaters or add more bread cubes. I added a little extra black pepper and some seasoned salt, as well as the regular salt. Next time I think I will add some deli rotisserie chicken and possibly some cajun seasoning.