Drunken Cheesy Bread

Question:  what should one serve at a girls’ night with wine, tiramisu, and Magic Mike XXL??

Answer:  drunken cheesy bread.  If you answered anything else, you’re wrong.

This recipe has been burning a hole in my Pinterest board, but I felt like I couldn’t justify making it for just myself on a random Sunday night.  So when my friend Casey came over for a long-overdue girls’ night, I knew what was on the menu.

In addition to be delicious and decadent-feeling, it’s also deceptively-simple and easy to prepare.  It literally took five minutes to put together (and that was just how long it took to grate the gruyere), then we popped it in the oven, drank some wine, and 20 minutes later a bubbly, cheesy delight popped back out.  The flavors together are AMAZING, and the wine soaks into the bread and creates a silky, almost custard-like texture.

Heat the oven to 400° F.  Butter an oven-proof skillet or casserole dish and place the bread in the dish.  Scatter the diced onion over the bread.  Tear or cut the bacon (or ham) into pieces, and scatter over the bread.

Sprinkle with pepper, and then pour the wine over the bread.

Top with the shredded gruyere.  Top it real good.

Bake until the cheese has melted and begun to brown at the edges, about 20 minutes.

Just take it all in.  That is girls’ night gloriousness.

Serve while it’s hot.  The leftovers for this are surprisingly good, but obviously it’s best fresh out of the oven.

Drunken Cheesy Bread

• 3/4 of a baguette, cut into 2-inch slices
• 1/2 of a medium yellow onion, diced
• 4-6 pieces of Trader Joe’s turkey bacon (or 1/8 pound of thinly sliced cooked ham, if that’s your jam)
• 3/4 cup of white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) of grated Gruyere
• Butter for the pan

1. Heat the oven to 400° F.  Butter an oven-proof skillet or casserole dish.
2. Place the bread in the dish, and scatter the diced onion and diced/torn pieces of bacon over the bread.
3. Pour the wine over the bread, onion, and bacon, and sprinkle with the pepper.  Then top with the shredded gruyere.
4. Bake until the cheese has melted and begun to brown at the edges, about 20 minutes. Spoon onto individual plates.

Original recipe from Real Simple