Ham Pear and Brie Casserole

This easy recipe for ham, pear and Brie casserole is a glorious combination of sweet and savory flavors, perfect for brunch or an easy supper!

We are not big ham eaters in our house, but every once in a while we get a craving for it.  Which brings up the following important question…

What kind of casserole can I make with ham?

Because ham is already cooked, it is very casserole-friendly – all you have to do is pick your other ingredients, depending upon what you are in the mood for.

For example, sometimes we go for straight on ham and cheese – a classic! And if we are being a little bit fancy, we might add some potatoes to the mix.

But when we are feeling EXTRA FANCY (but don’t want a lot of EXTRA work) we cook up this glorious one pot mixture of sweet pears, salty chunks of ham and melty, creamy Brie cheese, all baked together in a simple custard of milk, a little butter and an egg.

Mixed throughout all of it are chunks of bread, and the whole thing is basically a casserole version of the best dang ham and cheese sandwich you ever ate meets French Toast, and then some.

This is obviously a fab use for leftover ham, but in our house it’s also a great use for leftover bread.  You need a hearty bread for this recipe that is not going to totally disintegrate into your custard.

Any kind of country bread will do – crusty french bread, a nice rye bread, etc – but I always use whatever I have left over of the Almost No Knead Bread I make every weekend.  

It’s the perfect consistency for this marvelous, easy peasy one pot recipe.

So there you go…this is obviously a great, quick supper dish, but it makes a perfect brunch as well, especially if you are having a hungry crowd.  (And in my experience, crowds are always hungry!)

Here’s the recipe!