Ingredients (serves 4)
150g butter
4 leeks (roughly 750g), trimmed and sliced into rounds
3 eggs
300ml whole milk
50ml double cream
1 heaped tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
40g parmesan, finely grated
500g sturdy white bread (sourdough works particularly well here)
75g mature cheddar, grated
To serve: mixed salad leaves
Method
Melt 50g of the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. As soon as the butter starts to froth, add the leeks with a pinch of salt and gently sauté until soft and translucent but not browning.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 5. Whisk the eggs, milk and double cream together in a jug and season generously.
Mix the remaining 100g butter with the thyme, garlic and parmesan, cut the bread into slices (crusts on or crusts off – it’s up to you!) and spread the seasoned butter on both sides of each slice.
Scatter a quarter of the leeks over the base of a deep, lightly greased ovenproof dish and arrange a layer of bread on top followed by a glug of the eggy milk mixture. Repeat until all the leeks and bread are used up, then pour the remaining milk mixture over the top and press down on the layers so they soak up the juices (you can leave the prepared ‘pudding’ in the fridge for up to 6 hours at this point).
Sprinkle the grated cheddar across the top of the whole mixture and bake for around 35-4o minutes or until golden, bubbling and slightly risen on top.
Serve immediately, accompanied by well-dressed salad leaves.