Christmas Morning Breakfast Strata
This crunchy outside, soft and fluffy inside casserole is filled with bacon, cheese, spinach and roasted peppers. Make it the night before and simply pop in the oven in the morning!
Ingredients
- 10 cups bread cut into 1" cubes
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk can also use all or part half and half
- 2 1/2 cups eggs 10-12 depending on size
- 2 teaspoons Diamond kosher salt use less if using another kind of salt
- cracked pepper about 10 cranks
- 2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/4 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese
- 1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup roasted peppers patted dry and diced
- 10 ounce frozen spinach thawed an squeezed really well *
- 8 slices cooked thick bacon
Instructions
Prepare strata the night before
- Spread bread cubes out on a large baking sheet and place in a 250°f oven for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely. You don't want to completely dry our or brown the bread, you're just wanting the cubes to be slightly crusty on the outside.
- Cook bacon, drain, chop and set aside.
- Shred cheese, chop add-ins and set aside
- Whisk eggs and milk together. Add salt, pepper, dijon mustard and cayenne and combine well.
- In a large bowl combine the cooled bread cubes with all but 1/2 cup of the cheese (you'll want to reserve some for sprinkling over the top). Scatter the red peppers, spinach and bacon over and gently combine so that everything is evenly distributed.
- Spread bread mixture into a greased or buttered 9x13 or equivalent casserole dish (see notes) and gently pat down so it's all even.
- Pour milk/egg mixture over. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and press with your hands to make sure all of the bread cubes are coated with the egg mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight*
To Bake- Remove the strata from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for one hour before baking. Preheat your oven to 350°f
- Place strata in preheated oven and bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 30 to 45 minutes or until the center doesn't jiggle and feels set when pressed in the center. This may take a little less or a little longer depending on your oven and the depth of your strata. If you see liquid when you press the center it needs more time. To be extra sure it's ready use an instant read digital thermometer pushed into the center, it should read 160 when it's done.
- Let the strata set for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- I like the convenience of frozen spinach for this, but if you want to use fresh you can. Cook it first just to wilt. Whichever kind you're using make sure to squeeze it dry because if you don't your strata could end up soupy.
- Other add-ins could be: drained, jarred artichoke hearts, green onions, cubed ham, cooked sausage, sundried or roasted tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, blanched asparagus. Make sure any cooked add-ins are cool before you add them.
To use a different size pan:
- You can scale this recipe to any size pan you want to use. Cube enough bread to fill the desired dish without going over the top and then measure the bread. That's your base number. Use half of that amount for the combined milk/eggs. 1/4 of that amount for the cheese. And up to 1/4 of that amount for any add-ins. For example:
- 10 cups bread + 5 cups liquid (2 1/2 cups each eggs and milk) + 2 1/2 cups cheese + up to 2 1/2 cups add-ins