Recipe: Savoury Bread & Butter Pudding With Cheese & Herbs

Nights are drawing in – it’s time to hunker down and loosen waistbands with some feel-good Sally Clarke food

Recipe: Sally Cooke’s Savoury Bread & Butter Pudding With Cheese & Herbs

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

12–14 thin slices baguette or wholemeal bread

30g butter

2tsp chopped thyme or 1tsp chopped dried herbs

100g grated Cheddar cheese

4 free-range or organic eggs

50ml milk

Salad or crudités, to serve

Method:

Spread the bread slices with butter on one side. In an ovenproof dish with a capacity of approximately 1.2 litres, lay the bread slices neatly overlapping one another, and sprinkle with half the chopped herbs and half the grated cheese. Whisk the eggs with the milk and some sea salt and freshly ground pepper until smooth and frothy. Carefully pour the egg mixture into the dish, making sure that the slices are evenly covered. Scatter the remaining herbs and cheese over and leave to soak for 10–20 minutes. Heat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4. After 10–20 minutes soaking time, place the dish in the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes or until the egg has puffed and the bread has turned golden brown all over. Pierce the centre with a sharp knife and if the egg runs liquid, place the dish back into the oven for a few more minutes. If the egg starts to colour before it is cooked in the centre, cover loosely with aluminium foil to continue the cooking without burning the top.

Serve as soon as possible with a salad of various leaves or raw vegetable crudités of celery, fennel, carrot or radishes, for example. Leftovers may be chilled overnight in the fridge, then sliced like a cake for a lovely picnic or lunch-on-the-run idea.

First Put on Your Apron is available nationwide at sallyclarke.com

More Recipes:

Beef Carpaccio With Beetroots, Horseradish and Creme Fraish / Goats Cheese & Fennel Jam Galette