Savory Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding

First off, I need to admit something to you: I dislike taking photos of my food. Apparently, the Instagram gene is not present in my DNA. I don't like taking the time at every step anymore because it slows down my efficiency; the lighting is not good in the kitchen where I work (fluorescent bulbs everywhere); and most importantly, it bugs me that some of the food blogs I read have more similar looking photos of the recipes in various stages than they have actual instructions. In fact, I just looked at one blog, counted the number of photos in ten different posts and came up with an average of 31 photos per post. If you want 31 of something, then visit your local Baskin Robbins. Who has that kind of time? Well, people who get paid for blogging have that kind of time, and I don't get paid. Plus, I'd rather be reading a cookbook or a great thriller than snapping away in the kitchen. Anyhow, I want to include one photo per post so you have some idea of what the completed dish looks like. Or should look like. Actual finished products may vary.

So, bread pudding. Most people think of bread pudding (if they think of bread pudding at all) as a sweet dessert. Found in cultures all over the world, sweet bread pudding utilizes stale bread in a mixture of milk, spices, some kind of sugar, sometimes liquor, and usually dried fruit of some type. Savory bread pudding takes the same concept of using up stale bread but instead of sweet additions, you add sauteed vegetables, grated cheese, and sausage. Similar to stuffing or dressing that's on the table for Thanksgiving or Christmas feasts, savory bread pudding is a great accompaniment to big pieces of protein, like turkeys or roasts. Even better, you can customize the ingredients to your particular taste. Don't like bell peppers? Leave 'em out. Have extra broccoli? Toss it in. Prefer turkey sausage? It's your dish; make it the way you like it.

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 leeks, white & light green parts, sliced & rinsed well

3 cups mushrooms, sliced

1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage

1/2 pound Gruyere, grated

10 cups cubed day old bread

3 eggs, whisked together

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 tsp fennel seeds (optional but highly recommended)

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set out a large baking dish or two smaller ones.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together with about half of the grated Gruyere and set aside.

In a large stockpot, cook the sausage over medium high heat until browned. Reserving the rendered fat, scoop out the cooked sausage and set aside. Add the bell pepper, leeks, and mushrooms to the rendered fat still in the stockpot and saute for 5 minutes or so. Season the veggies with salt and pepper and the fennel seeds if using. Cook a few minutes more. Remove from heat.

Add the stale bread cubes and toss to combine with the sausage and veggie mixture. Transfer to the baling dish(es), pour the milk and egg mixture over, and top with the remainder of the grated Gruyere.

Bake for about 40 minutes, uncovered, and then broil for a few minutes to brown the top, if you'd like.

Cook's Notes:

1. The kind of bread you use is completely up to you. I found a great loaf of brioche sandwich bread which added a great buttery and slightly sweet flavor which paired well with the red bell pepper and leeks. You can use a sturdier bread, like a sourdough; completely up to you. At least two of my local markets carry bagged cubed bread in their bakeries. Just make sure that the bread is truly stale and a little hard; if it's too fresh and soft, the end result will just be mush.
2. Leeks don't get the love they deserve. They're in the same family as onions and garlic, Allium, and have a mild flavor somewhere in between the two. I've found that most markets sell leeks in bundles of three; go ahead and buy a bundle. Leeks are pretty hardy and can last in the fridge for longer than you might think. You can also slice them up and freeze them if you'd like.
3. Mushrooms. I love mushrooms. I wish more people loved mushrooms because then there'd be a more of a demand for different varieties in the local markets. I didn't have the time this past week to go to the Asian market where they carry at least a half dozen varieties, if not more, but I was quite pleased to find fresh shiitakes alongside the more pedestrian white and crimini mushrooms in one of the local stores. Use whatever mushrooms you want.
4. When I was frying up the sausage, I decided that it needed some flavor, so I added whole fennel seeds. Yum! I think next time I may increase the amount of fennel; I could taste it but not as strongly as I'd prefer.
5. Gruyere. This is a mild young Swiss cheese, slightly sweet and salty and nutty. It add savoriness without overpowering the other ingredients in the dish, such as quiches, crostinis for onion soup, and chicken cordon bleu. You can certainly use good ol' cheddar, but I urge you to break out of your cheese mold (see what I did there?) and try something new.

Serve savory bread pudding with roast chicken or a pork or beef roast and a nice green salad on the side. Give it a try and let me know what you think!