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Recipe

Bagged Salad Pesto Bake

20
Mins
Prep time
45
Mins
Cook time
6
Serves

Transform your leftover bagged salad into a delicious and creamy Pesto Cheesy Salad Bake! You could also use this pesto as a salad dressing, pasta sauce or spread on toast with eggs.

Bread & Grains
Dairy
Vegetables
Vegetarian
Bagged Salad Pesto Bake

This bagged salad pesto bake is the ultimate use it up recipe to transform leftover bread, wilting bagged salad, and soft herbs into a golden, comforting bake. Instead of tossing them out, rescue that forgotten loaf and those greens losing their crunch by reusing them in this clever savoury dish that’s part pesto, part bread pudding. The leftover ingredients become layers of flavour as they’re soaked in creamy custard and baked until bubbly and golden. It’s delicious cooking that helps fight food waste whilst turning food into something worth sharing.

Need

Leftover bread(we’ve used about 12 slices)
75g of bagged leaf salad
Handful of soft herbs (we’ve used sage and parsley)
1 chilli (optional)
6 spring onions (optional)
2 garlic cloves
90ml Olive oil
110g of any hard cheese
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 1/2 tablespoons of mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste

How

  1. Place sliced bread onto a tray and bake until lightly toasted at 160 degrees fan forced oven then set aside to cool.
  2. To make the pesto place bagged salad, herbs, spring onions, garlic and chilli in a food processor or blitz with a stick blender. Once well blended add olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Spread the pesto over both sides of the toasted pieces of bread. Layer bread in baking dish placing cheese between and on top of layers.
  4. Whisk eggs, milk, cream and mustard together. Pour over the bread pressing the bread into the creamy mixture to help it soak in.
  5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes then remove the foil and bake until golden and bubbling.
  6. Leave to cool for 15 minutes then enjoy!
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