Strata

I found this idea when I was searching for vegetarian options for a brunch I was hosting. A strata is a  layered baked dish of eggs, bread, cheese, and often sausage, vegetables, and herbs, according to dictionary.com.


As part of my healthy eating initiative, I've been making breakfast items with egg whites over the weekend for the whole week. So, I'll make omelets, or a quiche and divide it into servings to last through the week. I figured baking a breakfast strata would be a wonderful way to change things up a bit.

What I used:

• 7 slices Italian bread, torn into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 10 slices hot sopressata cut into quarters (you can use your favorite meats)
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups egg white
• greased 9X13 glass baking dish

 What I did:

• Layer half the bread at the bottom of the pan. Spread the bell peppers and half the meat over the bread. Sprinkle half the cheese over this.
• Layer rest of the bread over the cheese. Spread the onions and the rest of the meat. sprinkle with rest of the cheese.
• Whisk milk and egg whites together and pour over everything in the pan.
• Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 12 hrs. I left it in till the next evening.
• Bake covered at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 20 minutes. the initial recipe had called for 35 covered and 15 uncovered, but the eggs were still runny so I let it go another 15 minutes.
• Enjoy with your favorite hot sauce!

I didn't even use any salt or pepper, and it tasted delicious. You can add seasonings if you want but the hot sopressatta I used provided enough seasoning.