Cooking in Italy! Can you see me smile from where you’re reading? I love the freshness of Italian ingredients. Sometimes really fresh ingredients – like a slightly bitter rapini and great sausage – can turn an ordinary item like bread into something fab.
While Italians are known for their great food, with the exception of Leia, they are not known for their great bread. It might be because they don’t add salt to their bread. I’m not sure why. The main difference between French and Italian bread is that “In France, bread is legally not allowed to have fat or oil added. French bread must be made simply with water, flour, salt and yeast while Italian bread recipes are free to include milk, olive oil and even sugar”.
I have to admit that I’ve had more than my fair share of fresh bread go stale. While I’ve made bread pudding before as dessert, this is the first time that I’ve made bread pudding for dinner. This dish comes together pretty quickly, so a good tip is to chop all your ingredients in advance of cooking. This is a good cozy winter meal.
This is a riff on an orecchiette dish that I love which is served with rapini and sausage, so yummy good! I loosely based the original recipe off one I saw in Epicurious. Leftovers are also surprisingly and make a good next day breakfast.
Warning: those with small children or younger adults who dislike veggies, especially green veggies, will not be in favour of this recipe. “It’s too green” – you have been warned.
Prep time: 15 minutes; Cook time: 15 minutes + 55 minutes; Serves: 6 – 8 people
What you need:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb Italian sausage, de-cased
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (use 1 tsp if you want a little more spice)
- 1 medium bunch rapini, chopped into 1/2″ pieces
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 pound white bread, cut into 1″ pieces (about 8 cups)
- 3/4 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
What you do:
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Grease a 9″ square baking dish
- Over medium heat, add oil to a large frying pan
- Add the sausage, breaking it up as you stir, cook until no longer pink, about 7 minutes
- Add onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir until onion is translucent, about 2 minutes
- Add chopped rapini
- Cook, tossing, until wilted, about 2 minutes
- Put aside to cool
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper
- To the egg bowl, add the sausage/rapini mixture, bread, and 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Stir well to combine
- Pour into the greased baking dish
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Bake until it is browned, puffed and cooked in the centre, about 45-55 minutes
- Serve
- Savoury Bread Pudding for dinner
- Yes, it is green!
- Enjoy
Italian Sausage Rapini Bread Bake
A savoury bread pudding riff on a sausage rapini orecchiette.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb Italian sausage, de-cased
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (use 1 tsp if you want a little more spice)
- 1 medium bunch rapini, chopped into 1/2" pieces
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 pound white bread, cut into 1" pieces (about 8 cups)
- 3/4 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9" square baking dish
- Over medium heat, add oil to a large frying pan
- Add the sausage breaking them up as you stir, cook until no longer pink, about 7 minutes
- Add onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Stir until onion is translucent, about 2 minutes
- Add chopped rapini
- Cook, tossing, until wilted, about 2 minutes
- Put aside to cool
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper
- To the egg bowl, add the sausage/rapini mixture, bread, and 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Stir well to combine.
- Pour into the greased baking dish
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano.
- Bake until it is browned, puffed, and cooked in the centre, about 45-55 minutes.
- Serve
- Enjoy
