A Tasty Use for Stale Bread

As it's National Zero Waste Week I have been thinking more than usual about food waste, but I do think it was also a coincidence that we had two stale ends of loaves in the bread bin. Hubby didn't want sandwiches yesterday and my son made a cooked lunch for himself and his sister. He's finished work in readiness for going to university next week.

approx 12 oz stale bread

As a result I was left with about 12 ounces (300g) of stale bread. The white bread already had small blue dots of mould in places and the crust which no one had eaten was very mouldy, so I did throw that away. There was also half a wholemeal loaf that was getting a bit stale.  Part of the problem is that the white organic loaf from Waitrose is a bit dry, so it goes stale quickly.


So, what did I do with all that bread? I made cheese pudding of course. Perhaps you have heard of it, but I don't know many people who have. It's a recipe my mum often made, which I believe she got from her own mother and is a kind of easy to make souffle, although the bread means it's not as light as the real thing.  It's quite an economical, vegetarian dish, and very tasty, too.


Cheese Pudding for 4 people

Ingredients

8 ounces (250 g) stale bread

15 fluid ounces (400 ml) of milk (soya or oat milk should be fine)

1 medium egg

8 ounces (250g) of strongish cheese according to taste



Method
 
1 .Grate the bread into a large mixing bowl.

2. Grate the cheese in with the bread.


3. Add the milk and the egg.








4. Stir well.   The mixture should be
   like sloppy porridge, but not too runny.


If it seems too runny and especially if you didn't put quite enough bread in you can add a handful or two of porridge oats.





Pour the mixture into a greased oven-proof dish or individual dishes.








Possible variations

If you want a bit of a zing without using too much cheese add a pinch of mustard powder to the bread crumbs and mix well in.

You could also experiment with adding fried onions or sun-dried tomatoes to the mixture, and using just a little less milk to compensate for their moistness.


Serving suggestion

Serve with carrots, broccoli and a jacket potato for a nutritious, balanced meal.  This is probably fairly high in fat due to the cheese, so not suitable for anyone following a low-fat diet.

I didn't have a jacket potato yesterday as hubby and I ate cheese pudding for 4 between the two of us.  I made a separate, small one for daughter as I had so much bread.  She forgot to tell me soon enough that she was going out, so she had it cold when she came back in.  The half she left will go to the chickens.  I don't think it's as good cold as hot.