My favorite Strata recipe! This delicious dish is made with hearty artisan style bread, fresh spinach and bell pepper, flavorful ham and bold cheddar cheese, and everything is soaked in a rich egg custard and oven baked.
12 oz.hearty Italian bread,or French Bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (8 cups)
1 1/4cupssharp white cheddar
Instructions
Spray a 13 by 9-inch dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, cream, dijon mustard, red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper to taste (I use about 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper). Set aside.
Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet set over medium-high heat.
Add onion and bell pepper and saute until slightly golden brown and tender (only toss occasionally), about 10 minutes.
Add in spinach and saute just until wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Toss in ham and parsley.
Spread half of the bread evenly into bottom of prepared baking dish. Top evenly with half of the onion mixture. Sprinkle over half of the cheese.
Repeat this same layering process with bread, onion mixture and cheese again.
Whisk egg mixture again then evenly pour over top of the strata.
Press down with your hands evenly across top to submerge ingredients into the egg mixture.
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once preheated remove strata from the fridge and bake in preheated oven until center is set, about 50 to 60 minutes.
Let rest a few minutes before slicing. Serve warm.