Anyone who has lovingly dipped a spoon or fork into that comfort-defining dish known as bread pudding will be delighted to consider the same dish brought to centre stage as a savoury main. True, it's most common as a rather fabulous dessert, but leave out the sugar, the cinnamon, the chocolate and the raisins, and the bread becomes a base for all kinds of loveliness.

It's a simple and versatile idea; you just layer bite-sized cubes of stale bread with some combination of vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, cheese, meat or seafood and moisten it well with a liquid; either an unsweetened egg and milk custard, or for something a little bit lighter, a flavourful stock. I believe it's de rigeur to top it with cheese, but vegan cooks will probably experiment and create something almost as wonderful without any dairy. (Although in my heart, it feels blasphemous to even suggest such a thing.)

Our Thanksgiving meal was a pumpkin stuffed with gruyere bread pudding, and more recently I used leeks and mushrooms to create a rather heartwarming main after we'd spontaneously invited a jet-lagged friend over for dinner. If you like bread puddings as desserts, I urge you to go wild with the concept. I intend to.