tune 'n fork: Sausage and Mushroom Bread Pudding

Autumn Leaves by Eva Cassidy
Absolutely soulful. If you're not familiar with Eva Cassidy's music, you should be. I'm actually very surprised to find I haven't put her in a post yet! This woman sang with her heart and soul and her music has the ability to reach across the sound waves into yours. This song is my favorite autumn song. I have several renditions of it in my music library. But I needed Eva's heartfelt version today. Savory bread puddings are soul food. And this time of year I feel the need to feed my soul. As I reconcile myself to the fact that summer is gone I can comfort myself with earthy mushrooms and spicy sausage - and watch the autumn leaves drift by.

It took three tries before I came up with

this recipe today!

This is what happens sometimes as

I try to fit my healthier approach into practice.

My first attempt ended up being too dry -

not enough custard mixture.

My second attempt was too mushy

as I went waaaay overboard with the vegetables.

Yes - apparently you CAN add too

many vegetables!

At least in a bread pudding.
If you want more veggies, serve them on the side!

You need enough bread to soak up the

custard without too many other ingredients getting

in the way of that process.

My third approach I found myself really
struggling with my urge to overindulge!
"Simplify!!" my mind kept telling me!
"Quit thinking you have to add more!"

So I resisted the temptation

to add more sausage. And I heartily
fought back my mushroom addiction and
limited the numbers of those as well.
SO HARD!
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL, FOLKS!

I blame my dad.

The very first time he slid a perfectly
sautéed mushroom across the table to me
and that earthy, salty, sweet morsel
met my little girl tongue, I was hooked.

It's a love affair that's lasted to this day,

But sometimes you need restraint -

even with mushrooms!

Once I cut back on the gorge of vegetables

this dish turned out perfect!

And, of course, throwing the cheese

on at the very end, well -

melty cheese.
Not necessarily healthy but -

Need I say more?

Sausage & Mushroom Bread Pudding

Serves 6

Printable Recipe Card

1/2 lb. bread, cubed or tore into chunks

1/2 bell pepper, diced

4 oz. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/4 red onion, sliced thin or diced

2 carrots, peeled and shredded

1/4 lb turkey sausage

2 slices bacon

3 fresh sage leaves or 1/2 t. dried

1 T. chopped fresh oregano or 1 1/2 t. dried

1 T. chopped fresh thyme or 1 t. dried

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the bread cubes onto a sheet tray and toast for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly toasted. Place them in a large bowl and set aside.

In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium high heat until crisp. Remove bacon and break into pieces and add to the bowl of bread cubes. Put the mushrooms into the hot skillet with the bacon drippings and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms have caramelized and released their juices.

Remove the mushrooms and add to the bowl with the bacon and bread cubes. Place the turkey sausage into the hot pan and stir to break into chunks. Add the rest of the vegetables and the herbs and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir occasionally as the sausage loses it's pink color and the vegetables soften.

Add the contents of the skillet to the bowl with the other ingredients and stir to toss them well.

In another bowl whisk the eggs until uniform and then whisk in the milk. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the egg "custard" to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients and stir well, pushing a little with the spoon to help the bread absorb the custard. Spray an 8x8 square pan or a small rectangle pan with cooking spray and scoop the contents of the bowl into the pan. Again, use the spoon to sort of squish the ingredients down.

Bake in the 350 degree oven for 40 minutes, but start checking at 30 minutes. A knife inserted into a bread part of the dish should come out clean. Scatter the cheese over the top and cook about 5 minutes more to get the cheese to melt and get bubbly.