spinach and artichoke savory bread pudding

Last Saturday I bought a bag of ciabatta rolls from Costco. Sadly, they were totally stale and hard- horrible for sandwiches which had been my purpose in buying the rolls. I knew I could return them and get my money back but it seemed like a waste because I knew they would just throw them away. I did a little googling and decided to make this savory bread pudding since I had all the ingredients on hand.


When I told Michael what we were having for dinner he actually said "Ewww". First time in 11 years the man has ewww-ed anything I made (well before actually tasting it anyway!). He also said "Don't tell the children the name of this dinner or they will never eat it". I didn't really hold much hope that they would eat it no matter what I called it since it has spinach and artichokes- two things they won't touch!

It was so yummy. Sort of like a fancy stuffing. Everyone ate it and even more miraculously everyone liked it! Granted the kids picked out most of the spinach but they didn't get it all. Which means they got some actual nutrients. Score!

I made a couple of adjustments:
1. I halved the recipe and still had leftovers (most of which I just ate for lunch). I imagine the full recipe makes a TON.
2. I didn't use brie. I used some other fancy cheese that I paid too much for (anyone else notice the price of diary skyrocketing lately?) but I think pretty much any cheese would be good.
3. I used half and half in place of the heavy cream.