Don’t you just love bread? I sure do!
So it’s no surprise that I love strata! Plus, it’s a wonderful way to use bread that may be just a little dried out because you will never notice it in strata!
Today I did my oral argument for class defending my position. It was quite fun–even the prep for it was engaging!
So I thought today I’d do the song “It’s Easy to Remember” sung by Billie Holiday. Even though today it wasn’t necessarily “easy to remember” all of the case law, having good notes helped out!
After I got home from my oral argument, I celebrated with some strata!
Ingredients
- 2½ cups hot pepper Italian sausage, cooked
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups skim milk
- 1 cup heavy cream (2 cups whipped)
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 13 pieces bread ends from Kneaders® (cheese bread, hazelnut bread, any variety)
- ½ cup red pepper, diced
- ½ onion, diced
- 1½ cups fresh spinach
- 1½ cups hot pepper cheese, grated
- ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- Pam® cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook sausage. Drain off grease. Set aside.
- In a quart container, stir eggs, milk and whipped heavy cream together. Add nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, rip bread into bite-size pieces.
- Dice red pepper and onion. Add red pepper and onion and spinach.
- Add grated hot pepper cheese, Parmesan cheese, and sausage.
- Toss with your hands to mix ingredients.
- Spray glass baking dish 9” by 13” or bigger with Pam®.
- Pour 1 cup of milk and egg mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.
- Dump bread and other ingredients in large bowl into baking dish.
- Pour remaining egg mixture slowly starting at the edges and circling toward the center over ingredients in the baking dish.
- Press down with your hands to help the bread soak up the egg mixture.
- Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes longer.
- Remove from oven and uncover. Serve.
Notes
I do not soak the bread overnight because I like the texture of the strata better when it is baked as soon as it is put together. Also, I cook several pounds of hot pepper Italian sausage ahead of time and freeze it in 2-cup quantities for future use in recipes like this. The strata can be put together very quickly and baked while everyone is getting up and ready for the day. Or it can be put together after a long day, popped in the oven while you are detoxifying at the end of the day. Plus, leftovers can be cut into 3-inch squares and frozen in a gallon sealable bag. Thaw a piece on microwave defrost setting for a few minutes, then microwave it on medium high setting for a minute or heat it up in a frying pan for a couple of minutes on both sides. I love this strata for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
