Brunch pie

This pie for brunch is a very successful combination of simple ingredients: dried bread, eggs, bacon, spinach and melty cheese. It’s baked in a round bundt/ring tin with a central hole 24 cm in diameter, so the finished pie has a ring shape. It’s filling, golden and homely-comforting. The recipe isn’t too complicated and is perfect for a Sunday brunch or as a festive savoury.

Ingredients

• 600 g bread
• 10 slices bacon
• 1 onion
• 150 g baby spinach
• 6 eggs
• 300 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp Tabasco
• 250 g smoked cheese
• a knob of soft butter for the 24 cm ring tin
• salt
• black pepper
• a little melted butter for brushing on top

Preparation

1. Trim the crusts from the bread and cut the crumb into roughly 2 cm cubes. Spread on a baking tray and dry in an oven preheated to 200°C for a few minutes, until the bread is just lightly golden. Remove and leave to cool.

   

2. Fry the bacon slices in a frying pan. Cool slightly, roughly chop and set aside about a quarter for serving. In the same pan, using the bacon fat, fry the onion, then add the spinach and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

   

3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the vegetable stock, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Add the dried bread, mix and leave briefly so it absorbs the liquid. Then add the smoked cheese grated on the coarse side, the fried bacon and the spinach with onion. Mix well.

   

4. Grease the 24 cm ring/bundt tin very thoroughly with butter. Spoon the mixture into the tin, level the top and brush with a little melted butter. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 30 minutes, until the pie is quite set and the top is golden. Remove and rest for 10 minutes.

   

5. Carefully turn the ring pie out of the tin, transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper and return to the oven at 200°C for at least 10 minutes so the whole surface becomes crisp. Cool slightly on a rack and decorate with the reserved bacon before serving.

   

Notes

💛 It’s important to dry the bread only lightly, not overdry it — that way it will absorb the egg mixture well.

💛 If there are leftovers the next day, slice and crisp them in a dry frying pan.

💛 Grease the tin generously so the finished pie comes out cleanly and easily.