If you have never had a strata, it is the savory cousin to bread pudding. It’s made with stale bread, so if you have old bread about that you don’t want to go to waste, all you need to do is add some sausage, eggs, cheeses and spinach to make a flavorful and easy yet cozy winter meal. You can make it for brunch, but I find it also makes a wonderful and easy dinner.
It was on one of those days when I wanted to make a fresh loaf of bread, but I also had some stale bread I didn’t want to go to waste, so I needed a way to use it up fast. I decided on a strata and then went digging through the fridge to find things to go in my strata. There wasn’t much in my fridge that wanted to go in the strata, so I started looking in the freezer. Ah there is some frozen spinach and yes! some chicken sausages. That’ll do. And I’m happy to report that it did do quite well.
I encourage you to add other fun things like chopped bell pepper or mushrooms. You can swap out the chicken sausage for a low-fat breakfast sausage if you want a more breakfast-like dish. A strata is a forgiving play space for cooks, so you can totally go with this recipe just as it is (and it will be great) … or be creative and make it your own.
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Spinach & Sausage Strata
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 - 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- About 2 cups of cubed old bread
- 1 small onion, peeled & chopped (about 2/3 cup)
- 2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Robin seasoning
- 1/2 cup shredded Italian blend of cheeses
- 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed
- 2 precooked low-fat chicken sausages (any flavor)
For the top: about 1/3 cup more shredded Italian cheeses
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray a small casserole dish or 9x9x2 inch square dish with cooking spray.
- Cut the bread into cubes and set it on a baking sheet. Set it in the oven to toast for 5 minutes or so. Remove from oven.
- Preheat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion and garlic and saute until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Use a clean kitchen towel to squeeze some of the excess moisture from the thawed spinach.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, buttermilk, eggs, seasonings, and cheeses. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat them all with the milk mixture. Let soak for at least 15 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes or so to make sure all the bread cubes get a turn in the milk bath, then stir the onion/garlic mixture, the spinach and shredded cheese into the mixture.
- Chop the sausages into slices, then cut each slice in halves or quarters. Stir the sausage into the bread mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole pan and top with additional cheese. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until the strata is set in the middle.
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
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This recipe was shared at What to Do Weekends, The Weekend Potluck, Munching Monday and Simple Supper Tuesday.
