Easter morning is always hectic. Between searching for Easter eggs and going to Church, it’s tough to find time for a hearty breakfast. Thankfully, I have a make-ahead breakfast dish that will give you plenty of energy to survive the chaos.
Growing up, we always made this yummy egg casserole as part of our Church breakfast fundraiser. It was full of crumbled sausage and cheese and I loved it. Well, this is a more refined version, courtesy of Ezra’s Pound Cake.
There are many things I love about breakfast strata. First and foremost is the fact you make it ahead. As much as I adore pancakes and fresh toast—who has time to make them on a busy morning? Not me. But I can pop a dish in the oven and walk away!
Next, it’s so adaptable. The basics stay the same—bread, eggs and milk. But the rest, you can experiment and create your own favorite combinations. For this version, I sauted spinach with garlic and mushrooms then added tomatoes and bacon. To make things even more interesting, I used jalapeno focaccia as the bread base.
I like spinach, but I wasn’t entirely sold on it in the recipe. Next time, and there will be a next time, I’m going to eliminate the spinach and replace it with some artichoke hearts and roasted red bell pepper.
Breakfast Strata
Ingredients
- 5 cups of cubed bread (french bread, sourdough, jalapeno focaccia, etc.)
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 10 eggs
- 4 cups milk (I used 2%)
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
- 6-8 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
- 12 oz bag of baby spinach
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3-4 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 8 oz container of sliced mushrooms
Instructions
- Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Place the bread cubes in the dish and top with cheddar cheese. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, green onion, cayenne pepper, mustard, salt and pepper together. Pour mixture over bread cubes.
- In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Add washed spinach and 1 tablespoon of water. Cover the skillet and let the spinach wilt, 2-3 minutes.
- Spoon the spinach mixture, tomatoes and bacon over the the bread cubes. Gently press down with a spoon to make sure everything is moistened.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for up to 24 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the strata, uncovered, for 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and doesn’t wiggle when you shake the dish.
- Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake.
Enjoy!
Tanya
Wow! This looks amazing! Not your typical egg bake. : )
Can’t wait to try it…
Thanks Sunny! It was quite tasty and I love how you can use your favorite toppings to make it your own. Let me know how you like it! And Happy Easter!