Thanksgiving recipe: Savory bread pudding

This bread pudding, from “The Food52 Cookbook” by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs and the Food52 community, is a savory combination of prosciutto, mushrooms, goat cheese and Gruyere, with a nice lift from chopped fresh thyme. The texture, rich with eggs and cream, is voluptuous. And the whole thing comes together in minutes, minus the baking, as demonstrated here by Food editor Russ Parsons.

Savory bread pudding is one of the favorite holiday recipes we’ve collected in our “Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook.” The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s. We’ve also updated last year’s “Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookies,” so it now includes 65 recipes from a wide range of sources, from world-famous pastry chefs to home cooks.

Each book is $4.99, and they are available at the Los Angeles Times bookstore for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

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Savory bread pudding

Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Servings: 4

Note: Adapted from “The Food52 Cookbook” by Amanda Hesser, Merrill Stubbs and the Food 52 community. This recipe comes from the member who calls herself “Kamileon.”

3 cups cubed bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

3 ounces prosciutto, diced

2 shallots, minced

4 cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces fresh goat cheese, finely crumbled

1/4 cup grated Gruyere or Parmesan (optional).

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and toast the bread cubes in the oven until lightly golden, for 10 minutes or so, stirring halfway through. Remove and place in a large mixing bowl, leaving the oven on.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolk, milk and cream until thoroughly blended.

3. Butter a 9x9-inch square baking dish. In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, the prosciutto, shallots, mushrooms, thyme and a few grinds of pepper to taste. Gently stir in the goat cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the top and gently stir to moisten thoroughly.

4. Turn the bread-milk mixture into the greased baking dish and, if desired, top with grated Gruyere or Parmesan. Bake until the mixture is puffed and firm, from 35 to 45 minutes.

Each serving: 537 calories; 24 grams protein; 20 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 41 grams fat; 23 grams saturated fat; 356 mg cholesterol; 4 grams sugar; 960 mg sodium.