The baguette bake

I give you the famous Baguette, aka a French stick.

I am one that thought the best use of this said stick was to slice it, cover it in salted butter and dunk it in soup. YUM! Although this must be done on the day of purchase, otherwise it becomes a deadly weapon in our household!

Nevertheless, bread going hard is a great sign of little or no preservatives in it. Bread getting softer and softer before it becomes a fantastic source of penicillin will more than likely have an extensive list of unidentifiable ingredients!
I'm not judging, I have a freezer full of bread from the 2nds bread shop ( bread that is nearing its use by date) with a fair bit more than 4 ingredients. I have a carb monster husband and I will not trade him in for a fresh sourdough round that costs me $5 a time. ( well not yet anyway). I will become that wife who bakes her family bread everyday of the week. .........I am working on this, but it is a very ...........................very gradual process. Easy bread recipes coming soon.

But back to my trusty stick.

I turned a large baguette into a lunch item for my daycare the other day and all it took was 20 minutes prep and 25 minutes in the oven! The kids loved it and I think you and your families will too.

The ingredients list consisted of :-
-Tinned Tuna (protein)
-Cheese ( dairy)
-Peppers and green onion (fruit or veg)
-Wholegrain baguette ( Grain)

Safe to say i think these ingredients are pretty cost effective and you could whip this up for a family dinner too, knowing that you hit all the food groups and it didn't cost the earth. Swap out the peppers for your kids fav veg. Sweetcorn, spinach, peas etc.

In a school environment, this would be cool cut up into serving sized pieces and wrapped in tin foil like a cracker to serve (and keep warm). Kids would dig it.

Tuna Baguette Bake

3 Cans of Tuna ( in water)
5 Spring onions, chopped
1/2 Pepper, chopped finely

3/4 cup Grated Cheese (the stronger the better. and add more cheese if you like it very cheesy!)

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Drain the tuna and add in all the other ingredients., saving a little cheese for the top. Mix thoroughly.

Cut a rectangle the whole length of the bread around 1" deep. Pull the cut bread back and dig a little in with your fingers to scoop some bread out and make a hollow in the loaf.

Set the scooped out bread to the side.

Fill the baguette with your filling and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

I don't like waste, so I replace the top part of the bread back on again and squish it down. But this makes for a slightly messy cut when your ready to serve as the top gets quite hard. But it taste amazing regardless. Otherwise, bake the top part separately and grind the toasted bread up in a food processor and you've got ready made breadcrumbs!

Heat in a 350deg oven for around 20 minutes, or until the cheese is all nice and bubbly.

Leave to cool for a few minutes and then slice to your desired thickness, or if you've made one for your very own, just wrap your chops around it and thank me later!

I'm sure there any many variations on this , let me know you're stuffing your bread with.  My next one to try is eggs and bacon!  Breakfast baguette for a lazy Sunday morning.....................