Recipes by Vicki Ravlich-Horan, Images by Brydie Thompson
This is a great dish to use up leftovers, not just day-old bread. I made it with mushroom and spinach, but you could add in leftover roast vegetables. I used Expleo’s award-winning pork sausage, (but you can use whatever flavour you like) along with the other ingredients I picked up at MADE in Hamilton East.
oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced
4–6 sausages from Expleo
200g mushrooms from Pirongia Mountain Vegetables
1x 120g bag of baby spinach from Pirongia Mountain Vegetables
200g of day-old Volare focaccia (ciabatta would work too)
1½ cups of grated cheese
6x Fowlers free range eggs
1 cup Kaipaki Dairy full cream milk from Bare
1 tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
Heat a little oil in a large fry pan and add the sliced onion. Cover with a lid and over a medium heat cook the onions for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the onions have completely cooked and begin to caramelise. Remove the sausage meat from their casings and add to the onions. Turn up the heat a little to brown the sausages, breaking them up as they cook.
Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 3–4 minutes before adding the baby spinach (this may have to be done in two goes, waiting for the spinach to wilt and make room for you to add the remaining). Once the spinach has wilted take the pan off the heat.
In a large bowl break up the bread into small pieces, mix with 1 cup of the grated cheese and the sausage mix. Place this in a greased 2 litre capacity oven dish.
To save washing, beat the eggs and milk along with the salt and pepper in the now empty bowl. Pour this over the bread mix and rest for at least 30 minutes to allow the bread to soak up the liquid.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese before covering with tin foil and baking at 180°C for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the centre has just set.
Serve with a beautiful green salad and Red Kitchens Money’s relish.
Wine Match from Neat – A delicious Tuscan red to wash away the stresses of everyday life. Confini Chianti DOCG 21′ $20
This wine delivers a perfect balance of fruitiness and hints of spice. Red cherries and blackberries, complemented by a subtle undertone of cloves and black pepper. medium and smooth.