Bread Soup

 Hello!
Today's recipe is on the verge of becoming a new staple in our lives.  It is easy to make, hearty, and unique.  Best of all, it is another dish where you can play around with the ingredients (change the bread, cheese, veggies, or herbs) to make it better suit your taste buds!

Bread Soup

This is a very rustic dish, shown here with the herbs that flavor it.

Source: Inspired by Jamie Oliver :)
This recipe makes 3-4 portions.

Special equipment:
Stove to oven safe dish.  We use a deep 10in All-Clad pan.

Ingredients:
1 qt mushroom stock
6-9 slices of round sourdough bread; all but 2-3 toasted (stale is best; I like multigrain sourdough from Trader Joe's; number depends on pan/dish you use)
1 clove garlic
1 cup shredded Parmesan
1 cup shredded Gruyere
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups fresh mix of whatever cabbage and kale is available
1 large baking potato, peeled and chopped.
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs of sage, leaves removed
butter or vegan spread
olive oil + a splash of vegetable oil to prevent burning
salt
pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Steam potato chunks until just fork tender.
3. In dish that will go in oven, saute rosemary, onions, and mushrooms in oil for about 6 minutes or until beginning to brown.
4. Clean cabbage, removing outer leaves and rinsing in cold water.  Chop and tear greens into bite size pieces.
5. In a medium size pot, bring stock to a boil.  Add greens (may need to do in batches).  Blanch in stock a couple of minutes, until bright and tender.  Remove from stock, returning stock to the pot and set aside greens.
6. Remove onions, mushrooms, and rosemary from pan (I put this all into the bowls we will be eating out of as not to dirty more dishes).
7. Layer bottom of pan with toasted bread slices to cover. 
8. Spread out 1/2 of the mushroom, onion, and rosemary mix onto the bread slices in the pan.  Do the same with 1/2 the cabbage mix.
9. Sprinkle 1/3 of both cheeses over the cabbage mix.  Top with another layer of toasted bread.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 with remaining ingredients.  Top with a layer of untoasted bread.
11. Sprinkle last remaining 1/3 of cheese mix over top of bread slices.
12. Pour as much of the used mushroom stock into pan as possible, allowing a little room near the top for bubbling.
13. Bake uncovered in oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.  Top with a drizzle of olive oil before serving.  If desired, fry sage leaves in butter or oil until crispy and garnish dish.

Enjoy!

Notes:
- Leftovers of this dish are great, especially with extra broth poured over.
- Play around and try different vegetables.  The first time I made it I used green cabbage and curly kale.  The second time neither were available to I used Chinese cabbage and leeks.