JEN’S BREAKFAST STRATA

I visited my family over Labor Day Weekend and was prevailed upon to make breakfast. I didn't want to spend my morning at the stove scrambling eggs and frying sausage, so I decided to make my breakfast strata. It takes all your breakfast favorites and combines them into one yummy dish. Which also means it's all ready at the same time and no one is stuck waiting for the next batch of eggs to cook or bacon to fry.


¨ 1lb turkey sausage (or your favorite breakfast sausage)
¨ 1 small onion, diced
¨ 1 (4oz) can whole green chile peppers, rinsed and diced*
¨ 6 mushrooms, chopped
¨ 1 Jalapeno, diced (optional)
¨ 6 large eggs
¨ 1 cup milk
¨ Softened butter or Non-stick spray, for greasing the dish
¨ Loaf of day-old French or Italian bread - Costco’s Rosemary Bread is fabulous!, cut Batonnet(like a thick-cut French fry)
¨ 2 cups grated cheese ( I usually use cheddar, or a pre-shredded mix)

In a large skillet, sauté onions, chiles, mushroom and jalapeno until nicely browned. Set aside. In the same skillet cook the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks. While there is still a bit of pink on the sausage, add the sautéed vegetables back to the skillet and finish cooking the sausage. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.

Butter the inside of a 2½ -3 quart casserole (my preference is a deep cast iron pan – usually called a “Chicken Fryer”). Put a layer of bread slices (one third) on bottom of dish. Spoon half of the sausage mixture over it. Sprinkle with a third of the cheese. Make another layer with more bread, followed by remaining sausage mixture and another third of the cheese. Cover with one more layer of bread.

Whisk eggs to break them up, then whisk in milk. Pour egg and milk mixture slowly and evenly the casserole. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the egg-soaked bread and cover pan with aluminum foil (spray with non-stick spray to keep it from sticking to the cheese as it bakes) You can bake this right away, but I prefer to let it sit for about 30 minutes and let the egg mixture absorb into the bread (you can even make this the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight).

Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake strata in the middle of the oven for 45minutes to 1 hour (may take longer from fridge). In the last 15 minutes of baking remove the aluminum foil and then continue baking until top is lightly browned. Let strata sit for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!


*You get more chiles from a can of whole chiles and dice them yourself vs. a can of pre-diced chiles.