Savory pesto and sun dried tomato bread pudding

This is an unbelievably delicious and versatile egg and bread dish that can be served for brunch or dressed up a little with a fancy-pants roasted red pepper cream sauce and served for a delicious vegetarian dinner. It can be assembled well in advance and frozen, then thawed in the fridge overnight before cooking on the day you plan to serve it. Use a good quality baguette or an artisan loaf of bread. Sliced bread or whole wheat will not work in this dish, so don’t try. It’ll just bugger it up. 

Notes:

Nothing needs exact measurements in this dish. And if you want change up the mozzarella for another cheese (like a mixture of cheddar and jack), or crumble in some feta or blue cheese, just go for it. Sometimes I also layer in fresh basil leaves dipped in a little olive oil for an extra basil burst with each bite.

Bread:

Use a robust country-style sour dough or a good baguette in this dish. I have cubed the bread here, but often when using a baguette, I will slice the bread into 1/4 inch thick disks and layer with the other ingredients.

Savory pesto and sun dried tomato bread pudding

The Salt Monster

Bread cubes layered with pesto, sun dried tomatoes and cheese and baked in an egg custard

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 8 people

Equipment

• 1 deep sided round or square baking dish

Ingredients

  

Ingredients

• 6 cups Cubed bread
• 1 cup White wine
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 cup Pesto divided in two
• 1 cup Sun dried tomatoes sliced
• 3 cups Mozzarella cheese grated
• 8 medium eggs
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit 
• Mix the white wine and milk in a medium sized bowl. Add the bread cubes and soak for 5 to 10 minutes.
  
• Spread half the cubes out on the bottom of the baking dish. Distribute half the pesto and sun dried tomatoes over the bread cubes. Scatter half the cheese over the cubes. Repeat the same process with the remaining bread, pesto, tomatoes and cheese. 
  
• Next, whisk the cream, eggs and salt together. Pour over the layered ingredients. Cover the baking dish with foil. Place in the preheated oven and bake covered for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes until the top layer of cheese is browned. Let rest about 15 minutes before serving.