Breakfast Bake: Savory Bread Pudding with French Ham, Ramps, Mushrooms
Quiche fans will love this breakfast casserole of country bread soaked in rich egg custard, layered with spring ingredients, mushrooms, and ramps. Serve it alongside a young dandelion-green salad with a bracing vinaigrette, and you’ve got a homey brunch. (For swift assembly and bake-off on those still-chilly spring mornings, you can always prep ingredients the night before.)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, plus 1 yolk
- 1½ cups half-and-half (and up to 1¾)
- 1 teaspoon porcini mushroom powder (optional)
- ¼ –½ teaspoon each, salt and pepper
- 6 cups cubed country white bread or baguette (about 10 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for buttering the dish
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (or fresh seasonal mushrooms of your choice)
- ⅓ cup sliced ramp leaves (about 25 leaves)
- 4 ounces sliced jambon de Paris (unsmoked wet-cured ham), cut into ribbons
- 1½ cups shredded Gruyère, or better yet, Comté (about 3 ounces)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, half-and-half, porcini powder, and salt and pepper. Fold in the bread, let sit for a few minutes, fold again, and let rest for 15 minutes to absorb some of the liquid. Fold the mixture once more, and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to overnight. (Mixture can be stored in a resealable zip bag if more convenient.)
- Adjust your oven rack to the middle rung and preheat the oven to 300°. Butter a 2-quart (9-inch round) baking dish. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they release their liquid and reabsorb, about 10 minutes. Add the ramps and sauté briefly just until wilted; transfer to a bowl. Add the ham, and toss to combine.
- Arrange a third of the bread mixture in the casserole, and top with half the mushroom mixture and a third of the cheese. Follow that with half the remaining bread mixture, all the remaining mushroom mixture, and half the remaining cheese. Top with the remaining bread mixture, and gently press to soak up custard; top with the remaining cheese. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.
- Place the casserole in a larger oven-safe vessel to serve as a water bath. Place on the middle rung, and fill the outer vessel with very hot tap water to reach ⅔ up the side. Bake for 25 minutes, rotate the casserole, and bake for 20 minutes more, or until a kitchen thermometer reaches 160°.
PHILIPPE JEANJEAN’S SUGGESTED WINE PAIRING
To start the day properly with this dish, we’ll stick to the classic Prosecco cocktails: Mimosa (with orange juice), Bellini (crushed peaches), Rossini (crushed strawberries), Sorrento (limoncello), or Mio (grapefruit juice).
