Sausage Bread Pudding with Shiitakes

 

We have a plethora of eggs these days (I love that word – plethora. It’s just so excessive). Our chickens have kept laying all winter and are just the busiest girls. Fortunately, I’ve discovered a cookbook, The Fresh Egg Cookbook, by Jennifer Trainer Thompson. She has some great innovative egg recipes for when you get tired of scrambled eggs, omelets, quiche, or frittatas. Eggs are the building blocks for so many recipes, and are no longer the nutritional taboo they once were. For lots of information on egg nutrition, check out: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/good-eggs-for-nutrition-theyre-hard-to-beat

 

This wonderful bread pudding is great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, or leftovers. It goes together quickly, and is so delicious! This is a great recipe for anytime of year, but would be especially good the end of the summer when onions, tomatoes, peppers and basil are in season.

Sausage Bread Pudding with Shiitakes

4 eggs

1 cup 2% milk

2 tbs. Dijon mustard

1 tbs. minced fresh basil

1 tbs. chopped fresh parsley

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 links Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

½ c. chopped red bell pepper

½ c. chopped shiitake mushrooms

½ c. chopped yellow onion

4 c. Italian bread, cut into 1” cubes (about 8 ounces or 4-6 slices)

2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

½ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Serves 4

Note: You may do all the prep and then refrigerate the pie plate for up to 4 hours before baking the bread pudding.

Also, this is a time for confession. Ok – I didn’t have Italian turkey sausage because I wanted to use sausage from the pig we bought last fall. So I used about ½ lb. of pork sausage. And I didn’t have a shiitake mushroom because I couldn’t find one at the store, so I substituted a Portobello mushroom. And I had a jalapeño in the refrigerator so I threw that in too. It made the flavor more interesting and complex. I think that’s all I have to confess…

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9” pie plate or small casserole dish.

Whisk the eggs and milk in a medium bowl, then whisk in the mustard, basil, parsley and black pepper.

 

Crumble and cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink.

 

 

Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, and onions and cook until tender, 7-10 minutes, then let cool.

 

Toss the bread with the vegetable mixture, then add the egg mixture and toss well to coat.

 

Transfer to the pie plate or casserole dish, push down to compact, and layer the tomatoes

 

 

around the edge, making a ring.

 

Cover with foil and bake 40-45 minutes, until the custard has set.

Uncover, sprinkle with Parmesan, and continue baking 15-20 minutes longer, until golden on top.
 

Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

 

Like I said – delicious!