Annie’s Mushroom Bread Pudding

Minnesotans really love their casserole dishes. Chef and I probably have about 6-8 glass ones in different sizes. What can you do with casserole dishes? Make bread pudding for dinner!

This was last night’s dinner. We probably eat out…90% of the time. It’s pretty damn easy when there’s so many great eateries in New York. He was trying to talk me into going out for dinner again last night but I didn’t say anything and just made bread pudding. See the recipe after the jump.

For a 9” square casserole dish:

• 4-5 c. challah bread, cut into 1/2”
• 3 c. sliced mushrooms (I used portobello and button mushrooms in the picture — I recommend using grifola frondosa mushrooms instead of button)
• 1/2 c. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 c. baby spinach
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/2 c. half-and-half
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• Vegetable cooking spray

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and saute the garlic in medium heat on the stove. Add in the spinach and cook until the spinach is partially wilted. In a small bowl, beat the eggs; add in the rosemary, salt, black pepper, and parsley. Preheat the oven to 350F. Soak the cubes of challah bread into this egg mixture for a several seconds (don’t let it get too soggy though); move the pieces of bread into the greased casserole dish. Once all of the bread has been soaked, gently mix the bread cubes, grated cheese, mushrooms, and spinach together with a spatula.

Squish the contents of the casserole dish with a spatula or fork to minimize any air in the dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated; this will be really easy to see if you’re using a clear glass casserole dish.

For fun, you can throw in about 1/2 c. of 1/2” cooked bacon pieces or 1/2” chunks of chorizo. I found vegan chorizo at Trader Joe’s but I haven’t tried it yet so I was afraid to throw it in. You can also use this recipe for dinner parties (because we’re classy like that) by cutting 4” squares of unbleached parchment paper to line 8 medium sized ramekins instead of using a casserole dish.