My bread and butter

Bread and butter pudding, baked French toast, strata, eggy bread.... doesn't matter what you call it: there is nothing more comforting! I have recently posted up two such paragons of deliciousness in the savory realm (see here and here), and one in the sweet, breakfasty domain (click here). Today's treat is another savory dish, which makes a perfect winter's evening meal. accompanied by a salad.

I have to say, I was living dangerously with this one. No, not in a hang-by-your-fingernails-death-defyingly dangerous way, but I did at least throw all caution regarding dinner table harmony and child fulfillment to the wind. Firstly, I didn't have a recipe per se, but was working off a recipe for a similar dish made in a slow cooker. However, the idea of finding a dish to put inside the slow cooker stoneware, then surround it with water, yada yada yada... that all seemed like hard work, which is kind of the reverse of what the slow cooker should be. Plus. you can easily make a baked bread and butter pudding in advance, then stick it in the oven on a timer. This is actually advantageous, since it means the bread has some time to soak up all the liquid, making for an extra-squidgy dish (ooops, hang on a minute while I wipe the dribble from my keyboard).

The other reason why this dish was a bit of a risk was because of the ingredients - it uses olive bread, which unsurprisingly contains olives, and is therefore destined to make at least one of my children grimace. And it uses tomatoes, which is enough to make another one choke at the very thought (although not the same child, obviously, because that would be way too straightforward, wouldn't it?!)

However, I am pleased (and palpably amazed) to note that all three ate this up. Crikey. Clearly, bread and butter puddings have magic powers. Don't know why I should be surprised, quite frankly, but there it is.

Olive and Tomato Bread and Butter Pudding
Serves 6

1/4 cup salted butter
1 loaf of olive ciabatta - preferably at least one day old
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 TBSP sun dried tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil, but the dry kind)
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 28oz can diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups grated fontina cheese, or an Italian cheese blend

1. Reconstitute sun-dried tomatoes by covering them with boiling water and leaving them to soak for 30 minutes. Then drain and chop finely.
2. Cut bread into 1" thick slices and butter them on both sides. Then chop into cubes and put into a large mixing bowl.
3. Drain can of tomatoes over a bowl. Discard 1/2 cup of the drained juice, then mix remaining juice with the drained tomatoes.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, milk, salt and pepper until blended. Whisk in tomato and juice mixture, and then stir in 1 1/2 cups of the cheese.
4. Pour this over the bread cubes and stir until well coated. Push the bread down so that it is under the liquid as much as possible. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Transfer bread mixture into an oiled baking dish (I used a 9" x 9" dish) and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake in oven for 40 minutes, or until set, tinged with gold and smelling amazing :-)