An English Bread Soup

Bread Soup is a dish that consists of stale bread cooked in a broth, and there are many variations from many countries. I have had quite a few and love it, as the bread in the middle soaks down into almost a velvety texture of softness as it cooks and absorbs the soup base and the bread at the top soufflés right up with a crunchy cheese topping.

This dish is entirely made from leftovers. After having had tapas on Friday night, I had sliced too much baguette and it was in a bag with no where to go. I had a small amount of cabbage, 2 leftover frozen sausages (I defrosted them) and a piece of cheese. This surely would make a fantastic bread soup. And you know what? It did.

Ingredients:     (Serves2)

2 sausages
1/4 savoy cabbage, shredded
80-100g grated cheese
2 cloves garlic, 1 chopped, 1 left whole
1 small baguette, sliced into 1" rounds 

Method:

Set the oven to 180 C. Cook the cabbage in plenty of boiling water for about 8 minutes, or until cooked and then drain, reserving the cabbage water. Take the skin off the sausages and crumble the meat into a frying pan with the chopped garlic until browned. Set aside. Lightly toast the bread (not too brown) and rub the whole garlic clove over one side of all of the pieces of toasted bread.

To assemble: in an ovenproof saucepan layer the ingredients. First put in half of the sausage meat, half of the drained cabbage, then half of the bread pieces, topped with a handful of the grated cheese. Then repeat with a second layer, ending with the cheese. Pour the cabbage water over the top (just enough to cover the bread) and finally add a little more cheese over the top.

Put the pan into the oven for 30 minutes; the top will be souffled up and golden. Serve into two serving bowls and enjoy!

Simple leftover ingredients
 

Filling and delicious!