I suspect I’m not alone in my breakfast rut: we have a decent rotation of morning dishes — killer oatmeal (made with persimmon goop this time of year), homemade granola over Greek yogurt and fresh fruit, poached eggs, fluffy herby eggs, baked eggs, orange yogurt pancakes, Dutch babies, and a few more — but I often find myself pining for something new.
So I was cruising around the web, hoping to find something good to make on Christmas morning, and happened upon something I had never heard of called “strata”: a casserole dish layered with aromatics and bread. The idea is to alternate layers of bread and veggies and to pour an eggy custard over them, refrigerate overnight, and bake in the morning. I don’t normally do much overnighting of anything, but I figured what the hell, I wanted out of my rut. You do have to have a modicum of energy at night to assemble it, but it only takes 10 minutes or so to prepare, and you’ll be glad you did in the morning: you just have to turn on the oven, take it out of the fridge, and plop it in the oven. It’s especially great as a stress-free way to serve a hearty breakfast to guests, along with a bowl of fresh seasonal fruit (it’s fantastic with fuyu persimmons).
I naturally wanted to up the overall savoriness of the dish, so I added my umami standbys of pulverized dried tomato, shiitake dust, and parmesan. All the recipes I’ve seen use milk, but I think it’s better with yogurt. I think it tastes better in a claypot, too. Here’s how I did it:
- 3 cups cubed sourdough bread
- 1 cup finely grated parmesan
- ¼ cup minced shallots
- 1 cup diced crimini (or other) mushrooms
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon pulverized dried tomato
- generous sprinkling of salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon shiitake powder
1) Place half the bread into a large claypot or other earthen vessel, or casserole dish that’s been lightly buttered. Sprinkle in half the parmesan, half the shallots, and half the mushrooms. Follow with the rest of the bread, parm, shallots, and mushrooms (this creates the “strata”).
2) Whisk together eggs, yogurt, salt, and pepper, and pour this over the strata. Top it with the shiitake powder. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator overnight.
3) In the morning, preheat oven to 325. Bake for 30 minutes, then crank up the heat to 425 for another 10 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and crusty. Serve in the claypot, at the table, with some fruit.
Has anyone ever made a strata before? Does anyone have any can’t-live-without breakfasts you’d like to share?
I've had potato strata and the one with sweet potato was pretty good, but never had one with bread. I don't really have a favorite breakfast dish – I guess my brain is usually half sleep until mid-morning. But I do crave fluffy waffles with nuts and berries on occasion.
I think you've redeemed the strata! In my mind, it's the thing that makes not want to eat breakfast at a bed-and-breakfast (as a side effect of my travel writing, I've had to stay at way too many B&Bs), and it still reminds me of a terrible line-cook job I had at a cheapo brunch joint, where it was a nasty little precooked vehicle for leftovers. But THIS–this sounds delicious. I think the yogurt is a stroke of genius–stimulates the appetite, instead of cloaking it in way too much dairy.
Potato strata sounds pretty good! As long as it's not the one Zora describes! I'm kind of amazed I haven't heard of this dish until recently…. I'm assuming it comes from Italy? Does anyone know?
This look great Eric! We've done a strata before using zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, onion, goat cheese, fresh basil, and challah – sweet and savory summer flavors. I think they're great for a brunch – and they're easy! I found that letting it sit on the counter while the oven heats up is enough time for the liquid to soak through the challah version. Denser bread, which is probably more traditional, takes more time.
http://blog.cookingwithtraderjoes.com/2009/06/23/…
Pretty sure it's of Italian origins – "strata" meaning "layers"
Cheers,
Deana
Good to know about not really needing to soak overnight — thanks Deanna.
Two breakfasts my mom made a lot were eggs fried in olive oil — the edges of the whites get crisp and lacy and wonderful — and fried polenta, or fried mush as we called it. She'd make the polenta the night before, chill it overnight in the fridge in a loaf pan, then fry slices of it, probably in butter though olive oil may have been involved. We'd eat it with maple syrup.
I'm on a savory breakfast kick as well; this looks amazing!
This recipe reminds me of a recipe for Passover lasagna. Hold on—the Passover recipe uses
matzo instead of the bread, of course. So easy and delicious that you may want to cook it year-round.
The reason being that the matzo, unlike the lasagna noodles, do not need to be pre-cooked. And
no soaking overnight either. I think matzo could be substituted in Eric's recipe with great results.
Celia's fried mush sounds faboo. I ate fried eggs like that when I was a kid, too.I've got some duck fat on my counter, I think I'm going to do that for breakkie tomorrow.
Matzo! Brilliant. I'd love to hear details on that matzo lasagna, Eva.
Stratas freeze very well, assembled and 'soaked' but not yet baked. Great for individual/family portions, or larger ones for groups. Very versatile, a whole new world!
Never thought to use yogurt in strata. But I can see how it would be wonderful. Thanks for the tip. I love a good, hearty, cheesy strata, and this one looks like the perfect thing to wake up to while reading the Sunday NY Times on a lazy weekend.
Delia gets annoyed when I take four hours to read the Sunday Times. Including the crossword, of course! :^)