Sourdough Strata
Sourdough strata is the perfect make-ahead meal! This is a good recipe to use up any sourdough bread leftovers you may have. Sourdough Stara has cubed sourdough bread, Italian breakfast sausage, sauteed onions, bell peppers, spinach, and my secret ingredient PUMPKIN!
Equipment
- Cast iron skillet or 9×13 baking dish
- Large bowl
- measuring cups and spoons
- Knife and cutting board
Ingredients
- 8 oz chopped bacon
- 1 chopped onion
- 3 coves garlic
- 1/2 chopped orange bell pepper – or you can use red peppers
- 1/2 chopped yellow bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped spinach
- 1 1.2 cups cups chopped pumpkin or squash. – do not use pumpkin puree
- 1 pound ground pork- you can use Italian sausage
- 1 tbl olive oil
- 1/2 tsp dry Italian seasoning- or 2 tbl fresh chopped sage and thyme
- 1 tsp oregano – fresh is best
- 2 tsp salt – divided
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 10 eggs
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/8 tsp nutmet (pinch)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 oz ricotta cheese
- 3/4 sourdough loaf cut into 1-inch cubes – If you don’t have homemade bread, you can use a store-bought loaf.
- 2 cups shredded cheese – gruyere, cheddar, and or parmesan cheese are my favorites
Instructions
- First, start cooking the chopped bacon until it is slightly crispy. Take the bacon out into a medium bowl and leave the fat in the skillet.
- To the skillet add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 chopped onion and 3 pressed garlic cloves. sauté onion on medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are fragrant and translucent stirring often with a wooden spoon. Add in the chopped bell peppers or your choice of vegetables then season it with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, then add 1 1/2 cups of chopped squash. Saute till all the vegetables are soft and browned. Remove the vegetables into a small bowl, and set aside till we need them again later.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the same skillet, chop the fresh herbs, and cook the herbs with the ground sausage for 5 minutes on high heat. Then add in 1 cup of chopped spinach and continue to cook for an additional 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and combine the vegetables with the meat.
- CHOP THE SOURDOUGH LOAFInto one-inch cubes and layer half of them into a baking pan of your choice(or 9×13 baking dish), I am using the same cast iron pan that I cooked everything in. Just make sure that you cool it down before adding the egg mixture to it.
- On top of the bread layer half of the meat and vegetables mixture then sprinkle half of the cheese over it. Repeat this for another layer so the cheese is on top.
- in a large bowl crack 10 eggs, add 2 cups of whole milk, 4 oz ricotta, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. Whisk eggs together till it combines then pour the mixture over the sourdough breakfast strata. This is going to be the custard mixture. If you are making this ahead of time, cover it with a wrap and refrigerate overnight or just until you are ready to bake it. You can bake it right away if you would like as well.
- Cover with foil then bake at 350f for 45 min. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the top is crispy and the center is cooked through. Top of the strata with fresh herbs and serve warm!
