Savory Bread Pudding

My kids are unpredictable. Restaurant portion sizes are unpredictable. Put them together and I end up with one whole, huge grilled cheese sandwich in my fridge. I have this aversion to throwing away food, especially if I paid someone to cook it for me, so the grilled cheese sits in my fridge for a few days. Grilled cheese is not a food which ages well. I had to do something.

That something turned out to be a super-simple savory bread pudding which used up the grilled cheese and two sausage links that were hiding out in my freezer, waiting to be forgotten. It's even pretty quick since it bakes a skillet already hot from the stove. It's adaptable to whatever crusty bread you might have lying around, and it will be great with or without those two lonely sausage links in your freezer.

Savory Bread Pudding with Sausage, Cheddar and Apples

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion

8 ounces italian sausage

2 small tart apples

6 ounces leftover grilled cheese sandwich, or crusty bread

5 eggs

2 cups milk

salt and pepper

3 ounces cheddar cheese

Place ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add oil.

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit

While pan is heating, chop onion. If your sausage is raw, remove it from the casing, and cook in the hot skillet, using the back of a spoon to crumble it. If the sausage is pre-cooked cut the links lengthwise into quarters, then slice thinly.

Add onions to the skillet. Stir to coat with the oil and allow to cook, stirring occaisionally until the onions become translucent. If sausage is precooked, add it now.

While the onions are cooking core and chop the apples and cube the cheese sandwiches. Add the apples and sandwich cubes to the skillet. Stir and allow to continue cooking.

Beat the eggs and then add milk, salt and pepper. Grate the cheese.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Sprinkle the cheese over the contents of the skillet. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese, making sure to saturate any bits of bread sticking up from the surface.

Place the skillet in the hot oven, and bake about 30 minutes until the center is set.

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