Cheese and leek bread and butter pudding
This savoury twist on bread and butter pudding delivers all the flavour with gooey cheese and sweet caramelised leeks.
Ingredients
For the pudding
- 70g/2½oz unsalted butter
- 1 leek, finely sliced
- ½ large onion, finely sliced
- 2 spring onions
- 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil, to bind
- 2 free-range eggs
- 350ml/12fl oz double cream
- 80g/3oz Parmesan, grated
- 80g/3oz ²µ°ù³Ü²âè°ù±ð, grated
- 120g/4½oz mature cheddar, grated
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 280g/10oz sliced sourdough bread, about 8 medium slices (slightly stale works best)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the rarebit sauce
- 1 tbsp chipotle paste
- 2 free-range egg yolks
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 160g/5â…”oz mature cheddar, grated
- good glug Worcestershire sauce
- 100ml/3½fl oz stout
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Leek and spinach velouté
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 peppercorns
- 2 leeks, just the tops, the green parts, chopped
- 200g/7oz spinach
- 4 tbsp parsley, chopped
- 400ml/14fl oz double cream
- 100ml/3½fl oz stock
For the sprouts
To serve
Method
To make the pudding, melt 10g/⅓oz of the butter in a saucepan over a low heat then add the leeks and onions along with a little salt and pepper. Cook slowly for 30–40 minutes until nice and dark and sticky. Set aside.
Meanwhile, add the spring onions and garlic to a food processor and blend with a little rapeseed oil until combined. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C/Gas 5.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and grated cheeses, then stir through a quarter of the caramelised leeks along with all of the mustard and the spring onion/garlic oil. Season with salt and black pepper, give it a good mix up and set to one side.
Butter both sides of your sourdough slices with the remaining butter and arrange horizontally in a deep baking dish; as you build, add a spoonful of the caramelised leeks and a good grind of black pepper in between each layer.
Next, slowly pour three-quarters of the cheese mixture over the layered bread – give it a little shake back and forth to let the mixture really get into all the gaps. Allow to soak in for 5–10 minutes, then press down the top a few times and pour the remaining cheese mixture over so that everything is coated in creamy cheese.
Slip into the oven for 30–40 minutes or until set with a golden-brown crust. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10–20 minutes.
Once slightly cooled, place a heavy board or a baking tray with a pot on top to press it down and set aside – ideally overnight but a few hours will do.
To make the rarebit sauce, preheat the grill to low. Once your pudding is pressed and cooled, put all the ingredients for the rarebit into a bowl along with a good pinch of salt and black pepper and give it a good whisk.
Slowly pour the mixture over the top of your cooled, pressed pudding and slip under the low grill to bubble up, about 5–8 minutes, but keep an eye on it! Once golden and bubbly remove from the grill and serve while still hot and gooey, or slice and fry and serve as suggested below.
To make the leek and spinach velouté, heat a large sauté pan and add the oil, once hot add the garlic, peppercorns and leeks and sauté for 2–3 minutes, or until the leeks are soft.
Add the spinach and parsley and stir until the spinach has wilted. Add the cream and stock and cook for 3–4 minutes.
Place into a blender and blend until smooth, you can push this through a sieve, if you like to make it really smooth.
To make the sprouts, heat a medium sauté pan and add the oil, once hot add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the sprouts and cook until wilted, for around 4–5 minutes. Finish with the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, blend the chipotle paste and the oil and place in a squeezy bottle. Spoon the velouté onto a plate and top with the pudding and rarebit sauce. Top with the sprouts and drizzle with the chipotle oil.
