Real talk: The first time I had Bellisari’s Blistered Jalapeno Fig spread, my sister and I stood at my kitchen island and consumed the ENTIRE jar with some goat cheese and crackers. No joke. One minute, it was there, the next minute – gone. I’m not one to mess with a good thing – give me a jar of sauce or dip or salsa, some sort of edible jar-to-mouth transferring device, and I’m good to go. But when I found out that you can MAKE things with it using a RECIPE, well… I had to give it a shot.
First step, I had to go to Weiland’s and get some more because, well, see above… Then I found the perfect combination to serve my obvious obsession with this spread and the hubby’s obvious obsession with breakfast: Jalapeno Fig Stuffed French Toast.
I started with a loaf of French bread – glad I remembered that Alton Brown recommends that you should use 1 or 2 day old bread, so that it is a bit dry and will suck up the egg and milk mixture well. At this time, turn your oven on and prep a cookie sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper in the oven.
Using a serrated knife (sharpened by our friendly neighborhood knife sharpener Blades of Glory), I sliced the loaf into 1.5″ pieces.
Then make a cut in one of the short ends and create a pocket for deliciousness by slicing the center of the soft part of the bread.
Take about 3/4 of the jar and mix it in with the mascarpone cheese.
Taking a thin spatula or a spoon, put about 2 TBS of filling into each slice of bread. Make sure you have plenty of vanilla wafers on hand to eat the remaining mixture…
Stack up your stuffed bread pockets and get a picture!
Mix up the French toast batter by adding the remaining ingredients to a wide bowl and whisking until well combined.
Lay your stuffed bread into the bowl, letting the goodness soak into each side.
This is where it really helps to have day-or-two old bread, it acts like a sponge. Into the hot pan! We used a few pats of melted butter because delicious, but you can use cooking spray as well.
Use tongs or a spatula to flip each after each side turns toasty brown.
We like to use a cast iron pan because it creates a beautiful caramelized crust on each side.
You’ll notice that the middle of each doesn’t feel quite cooked – that’s where the oven comes into play!
Set each piece onto the cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes. We used staggered timers to space out each pair of French toasts.
Serve with powdered sugar, the remaining mascarpone spread goodness and drizzle with a bit of the warmed up spread. Perfection.
JALAPENO FIG STUFFED FRENCH TOAST
Servings: 6
Ingredients
6 Slices of Rustic Italian Bread sliced about 1 1/2 inch thick
6 oz Mascarpone, softened
1 Jar Bellisari’s Blistered Jalapeno & Fig Spread
8 Large Eggs
1 Cup Whole Milk
1 Cup Half-and-Half
2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
¼ Tsp Kosher Salt
Canola Oil Cooking Spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place in oven to heat.
With your paring knife, make a slit to form a pocket in the breads slices, being extra careful not to cut all the way through.
For each individual serving, use a mixture of 2 tablespoons of Bellisari’s Blistered Jalapeno & Fig Spread along with 2 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese. Carefully spread inside the pocket of each slice.
Combine the eggs, milk, half and half, vanilla and salt to make your dipping mixture. Dip each stuffed piece into the bowl, soaking on both sides.
Spray skillet with cooking spray and gently lay each piece unto the skillet. Brown each side for 3 minutes. Place each piece of French toast into oven on cookie sheet. Cook each for 8 minutes until cooked through. (Staggered timers help with this step, as each piece comes out of the pan.) Heat remaining fig spread over low heat and remove, thin with a few TBS of water if needed. Place slices of French toast on serving tray and spoon remaining Bellisari’s Blistered Jalapeno & Fig Spread and mascarpone spread mixture on each slice.
Disclaimer: this post was sponsored by Bellisari’s. Photos and opinions are our own.
