My Kitchen My Table

New Year's Breakfast Strata

My friend Tori Ritchie, Tuesday Recipe, recently posted this fabulous and easy to make Breakfast Strata recipe to her website as well as to my friend, Amie O’Shaughnessy’s Ciao Bambino blog.

I can vouch that the strata is a winner. I made it for Christmas brunch and plan a repeat performance with a few different ingredients to serve New Year’s morning. Since it is made the night before, in the morning all that is left to do is to roll out of bed, pop in the oven, and an hour later when delicious aromas fill the air, plate it up and enjoy.

Ham & Cheese Breakfast Strata
Serves 6

room temperature butter for greasing dish
1 pound loaf soft French or Italian bread (not sourdough), such as Pugliese
12 ounces thick-cut baked ham or ham steak, fat trimmed off, cut into cubes
1-1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) grated Monterey jack cheese
freshly ground black pepper
6 eggs
2 cups whole milk
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese

The night before, rub the bottom and sides of a 13×9×2–inch baking dish with butter. Cut the bread in half crosswise, then again lengthwise to give you open-faced quarters. Tear out the insides of the bread and tear into small pieces, getting every last bit of white from the crusts (save the crusts to make breadcrumbs in the food processor for another time).

Spread half the bread in the bottom of the buttered dish. In a food processor, pulse the ham until finely minced (or finely chop by hand). Sprinkle half the ham and half the cheese over the bread, then repeat with remaining bread, ham, and cheese. Grind fresh pepper over the top. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together, then whisk in the green onions. Pour over the bread-ham mixture, then with a large rubber spatula, fold ingredients gently until bread is moistened. Spread the mixture evenly in the dish. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, remove the plastic wrap. Sprinkle the top of the strata with the Asiago or Parmesan cheese, then cover dish tightly with foil. Slide into a cold oven and turn the oven to 350°F. Bake until the strata starts to puff and eggs look set, about 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until golden, crusty, and delicious smelling, about 25 minutes more. Serve at once.

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