I just discovered strata

Listening to a podcast of "The Splendid Table" while I walked the puppy around the neighborhood the other day, I learned about a dish that is apparently called "strata" (for layers) in Italian, and which is essentially a savory version of a bread pudding. I am excited about this find, because, among other reasons, I believe it will aid me in my sneaky plan to sneak a meatless dinner dish on Sweet Baboo once or twice a week.

I followed (mostly) the podcast instructions and made my first strata, with torn bread, a savory custard, roasted red peppers, a mix of sauteed onions, fresh basil, some dried spices, and shredded muenster and mozzarella cheeses. I'm hopefully optimistic about how this will go over later tonight after the evening All Souls' Mass. (See, I'm sneaking meatless Fridays into Sweet Baboo's diet, but if they're bready and cheesy enough, if I'm lucky he won't even notice.)

I'm already wondering what variations on a strata I could pursue. They don't necessarily have to be meatless. I googled strata recipes and found mentions of ones with sausage, chives, spinach, basil, mushrooms, and a variety of cheeses. I'm wondering if any of you have tried to make one of these and what ingredients you recommend.

Sounds great! I've made them for breakfast - Broccoli is good, sausage, cheese

I'll be trying it later today. I can think of all sorts of things that would work in a strata -- spinach, chives, basil, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, ...

I love the idea of a savory bread pudding (I just don't have enough of a sweet tooth to crave a sweet bread pudding). I'll report back on how it works out.

Turned out a bit of a bust. I mean, *I* thought it was fantastic. But Sweet Baboo came home from a long, hard work day and announced, I need something hearty. Something with meat.

Voila! I pull off the foil. This is hearty!

What is it?

It's ... think of it as a deep dish pizza in a casserole dish. Bread, eggs, cream, onions, roasted red peppers, and lots of CHEESE!

Any meat?

Uhm ... no. But HEARTY! Is it HEARTY!

I need meat. Where are the Sunset burgers?

(Sigh ... )

There's a separate thread there, I suppose, on how to eat more beans and grains and veggies, and occasionally sneak them in on the loved ones, ideally without them noticing.

As for the strata, I realized afterwards that all I would have had to do to pass the meat test was brown some Italian sausage and mix that in. (I recently browned some Italian sausage to put on homemade pizza, and for a good hour or so there while I was sneaking bites of the sausage, I couldn't think of any good reason why I should ever eat anything else.)

Alas, you can't mix Italian sausage into an already-cooked savory bread pudding. So I'll be having leftover onion-and-red-pepper strata for lunch for the next few days.

And making meatloaf for dinner.

Sigh.

Whole Foods sells various strata in their prepared foods section. They're pretty dependably good.

We usually do a couple of breakfast strata when we've got company in the mornings, especially over the holidays. They're popular, easy, and pretty standard: (savory) breakfast sausage and onion or mushroom, or a quiche-lorraine like one of bacon and cheese. I also do a sweet cinnamon cream cheese one (I think it's originally from Fannie Farmer, but I don't bother with the recipe anymore) that's very like french toast (essentially strata is a savory bread pudding)

I'd look to quiche recipes for more ideas - basically they're the same except for the starch.

Yeah!

Maybe a bacon quiche?

Oh, wait.....

Katie wrote:Alas, you can't mix Italian sausage into an already-cooked savory bread pudding.

No, but you can brown a few sausages and serve them alongside.

There are a couple of strata recipes in the recipe index under "Casserole, breakfast."

Here's an all-purpose recipe. You can substitute just about anything for the sausage and use any sort of bread or cheese you like. I have been known to use everything from kosher salami with rye bread and swiss to spinach, white bread and feta. Any herbs or other flavors you like can be added.

As Mhays mentions, stratas are great company brunch dishes, because you mix it up the night before and just stick it in the oven in the morning. However, they do fall in the quiche category, as in "Real men don't eat..." or at least not without stacks of bacon, additional sausage or a chop on the side.

Basic breakfast casserole or strata

4 slices fresh bread (any kind), hard crusts removed
1 pound bulk sausage or link sausage, cut in slices
1 cup shredded cheese (any kind)
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Grease a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. Tear the bread into pieces and place in the dish.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the sausage and drain off fat. Spoon the sausage over bread. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.

In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over the mixture in the baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until browned and set. 6 servings.