Cheesy savoury bake

I've got a very busy day today - tonight, the village society I am Chair of is putting on a Mamma Mia singalong and it'll be all hands to the pump for most of the afternoon getting the hall ready for everyone to arrive. So something sustainable is needed for lunch - it could be hours before we'll get the chance to refuel again! This savoury bake should do the trick. It uses crusty bread as a base (today, I've actually used some of my lovely Cheese and Olive Bread (https://a-cooks-plot.blogspot.com/2019/01/cheese-and-olive-bread.html) that I had in the freezer, but any artisan loaf is fine). You can add more or less anything you like to the cheese and egg mixture that sets the bake, but here's what I've put in mine today...

Cheesy savoury bake

Good handful of crusty bread, chopped into chunks (enough to cover the base of your baking dish)
1 large red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 eggs
145ml milk
150g cheese, grated (I used low-fat cheddar)
1 red or orange pepper, chopped
1 tbsp pesto
handful fresh parsley, chopped

Fry the onion until just translucent, then add the garlic and fry for a minute more. Meanwhile, grease a medium-sized baking dish with a little oil, then spread the bread evenly over the base. Beat the eggs in a jug, add the milk, cheese, pesto and parsley and mix well. Add the onions, garlic and peppers to the jug then pour the mixture over the bread. Bake in a preheated oven (170C fan) for 40 minutes. Serve at room temperature (the flavour is much nicer if you don't serve it piping hot).

This is especially good with a lettuce and tomato salad dressed with a nice, sharp vinaigrette - I suspect I'll be grabbing a slice and running today, though, so there'll be no time for salad!

Serves 2-3

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