What you’ll need:
6-10 thick slices stale French bread, each slice cut in half
1- 1 1/2 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/3- 1/2 lb. asparagus, cut into 1inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs such as chives, flat-leaf parsley, tarragon, thyme, and marjoram
3 tbsp. grated Romano, Parmesan, or any hard Italian cheese
1/4lb. Fontina cheese, slivered
1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Put it all together:
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
In a bowl, beat together the eggs, salt, pepper and reserved milk until well blended. Arrange the bread in the skillet. Set some asparagus tips aside and then top the bread with the remaining asparagus and the mixed herbs.
Sprinkle the cheeses over the asparagus. Pour the milk-egg mixture over the top, and dot with the butter. Bake until the top is crusty brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the pudding comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. Check on it. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, top with the reserved asparagus tips. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Source the local ingredients for this recipe at http://www.localharvest.org/