Savory breakfast > sweet breakfast.
Here’s another perfect example of taking a traditionally sweet breakfast, and improving on it by turning it savory. I don’t know what it is, I mean as a kid, I loved the sugar-bombed cereals, sticky syrupy pancakes and waffles, donuts, and all the other classic sweet breakfast treats. But since I’ve gotten older (and likely more hungover) savory trumps sweet in terms of breakfast. And so here’s a recipe to take the traditionally sweet French toast, and turns it on its head. God it would go great with a bloody or breakfast wine.
The French toast is stuffed with shredded Parmesan and soaked in an herby buttery egg batter, before being pan fried and covered in a melted Parmesan & herb cheese sauce. It’s the perfect way to start a Saturday or Sunday morning.
Time You Need
- ~10 minutes prep
- ~25 minutes cooking
- Servings: 4-6
What You Need
- For the French toast:
- 8-12 thick-cut slices French or brioche bread
- 1 cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp melted butter (+ more for greasing skillet)
- ~ 1 cup of fresh shredded parmesan cheese
- Salt, to taste
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasonings
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- For the cheese sauce:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups of milk
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Salt, to taste
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasonings
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
What You Do
- For the French toast:
- Take a large bowl and whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter and all the seasonings.
- Take the loaf of bread and slice into 8 –10 thick even pieces. Dunk each slice in the batter multiple times to get it soaked with all that savory goodness. If the bread is a few days old, soak in the batter for a longer time to make sure it absorbs more.
- Then top one side of the bread with shredded parmesan. Take another piece of batter soaked bread to form a sandwich and seal the cheese in the center. Repeat for rest of the bread. (so 10 pieces of bread should make about 5 cheese stuffed French toasts)
- Preheat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Melt about a tablespoon of butter, then add one French toast at a time. Cook for about 3- 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cheese is melted.
- Repeat for remaining pieces of French toast.
- Serve with cheese sauce! Or eggs if desired!
- For the cheese sauce:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour and garlic. Then add milk, seasonings, and gradually whisk in cheese, continually stirring until cheese is fully melted and sauce thickens. Remove from heat and pour liberally over each piece of french toast.