Parmesan French Toast

Ingredients

2 slices country bread
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
pinch of paprika or cayenne pepper
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 teaspoons butter plus more to grease casserole dish
To serve:
chopped green onion
chopped parsley
tossed green salad (optional)
poached eggs (optional)

Takes 35 Minutes, serves 2.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch casserole dish with butter.
Assemble slices of bread in a flat layer in the casserole dish . Place eggs, milk, Dijon, salt, pepper and paprika (or cayenne) in large liquid measure and whisk to combine. Pour egg mixture over bread and leave to soak for 30 minutes, flipping the slices over at the halfway mark.
After soaking, sprinkle the slices with grated Parmesan and dot the top of each slice with bits of butter.
Transfer to oven and bake until puffed and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
To serve Option 1: Serve with a sprinkle of green onions or chopped parsley.
Option 2: Serve topped with a tossed green salad and poached egg.

Take pain perdu from sweet to savoury and enjoy our CRISPY PARMESAN FRENCH TOAST.

French toast, also known as pain perdu, is a welcome addition to any weekend breakfast or brunch menu. Who doesn’t love sweet French toast drizzled with maple syrup? But it got us thinking, what about a savoury version of this beloved dish? You could still enjoy it for breakfast or weekend brunch, but also for lunch or dinner. The result is this CRISPY PARMESAN FRENCH TOAST that can be served with nothing more than a sprinkle of freshly chopped herbs. Another idea – dress it up with tossed greens and a poached egg. Either way, it’s delicious!

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Here’s the deal with CRISPY PARMESAN FRENCH TOAST;

INGREDIENTS

In pulling together the ingredients for this French toast recipe, we simply swapped sweet for savoury. So where a classic PAIN PERDU has brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, our savoury version has Parmesan, Dijon mustard and seasoning. After that, just grab some eggs, milk and a favourite bread. This is meant to be easy.

BREAD

Although we used a crusty Italian loaf for this recipe, challah, French baguette, brioche, whole wheat or multigrain bread will work too – just pick the best bread you can find. Ideally, try to use a loaf that you can slice ¾- to 1-inch thick. The slices will soak up the egg and milk mixture way better than thin slices would.

The batter for this savoury French toast recipe. — Adding Dijon and seasoning to this batter complements the Parmesan perfectly.

CUSTARD

Whisking up our suggested blend of whole milk, fresh eggs, Dijon and a bit of seasoning is a simple step, just make sure to whisk them well until the salt dissolves and the eggs and milk are completely blended. Whisking everything up in a large liquid measure is also a nifty trick as you can then easily pour the batter directly into the casserole dish.

SOAK

The only timing step in this recipe is where you leave the bread to soak up the egg and milk mixture for 30 minutes. Make sure to flip the bread at the 15-minute mark so that the tops of the slices get as eggy as the bottom. We could have made this dish using a skillet to fry it up, but we find the casserole method way easier. Yay!

PARMESAN

The final step before transferring the PARMESAN FRENCH TOAST to the oven is to sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and top it with flecks of unsalted butter. Although the recipe has only been tested using Parmesan, we expect you’ll have the same great result if you use other types of cheese like Gruyère, Asiago, cheddar and Havarti.

BAKE

Baking our savoury French toast in a hot oven will puff up the slices of egg-soaked bread in the casserole dish. Fair warning; they will deflate soon after you take them out, so we suggest serving them straight away. A final thought; we crafted this story to serve two, but you can easily double the recipe. If you have guests in your midst and are serving around four people, consider preparing it in a fancy, oven-safe dish.

SERVE

As mentioned off the top, our CRISPY PARMESAN FRENCH TOAST can be served with little more than chopped fresh herbs. Try it with chives, flat-leaf parsley, scallions, thyme or basil. The savoury, cheesy flavour profile is satisfying and makes for a perfect light meal.

The French toast topped with a tossed salad and a poached egg. — Here’s an amazing idea! Serve the French toast topped with a tossed green salad and a poached egg. Yummy!

WITH POACHED EGG

Want to take this savoury French toast idea from simple to amazing? Toss assorted greens in a small bowl with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar. Add a sprinkle of sea salt flakes and some freshly ground black pepper. Add a little nest of the salad onto each slice of bread, then to finish, a poached egg. Amazing!

Cutting into the egg resting on the Parmesan French toast. — The perfect serving for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.

CRISPY PARMESAN FRENCH TOAST can be made simple or amazing, but either way, it’s always perfect!

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