SAVOURY BREAD PUDDING

This is a lovely old recipe which uses up stale bread and provides a delicious vegetarian dish. If you want to add meat, try some pieces of cooked bacon or sausage.

1 tbsp butter

500g mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme

2 garlic cloves

1 bunch silverbeet or

spinach, chopped

125g day-old bread, white or wholemeal, cut into 5cm cubes

1 cup grated cheese

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat the butter in a frying pan, then add the mushrooms. Cook until they begin to soften, then add the onion, thyme and garlic. Season to taste. Continue to cook until the mushrooms are tender, then stir in the silverbeet and wait until it wilts. Remove from the heat.

2 Grease a small baking dish. In a bowl, combine the bread cubes, the mushroom mix and grated cheese, then toss. Put in the baking dish.

3 Beat the eggs and milk together, then pour over the bread mix ture. Allow to sit for 10 minutes while the bread absorbs the liquid. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until it is puffed up and golden brown.