Strata is endlessly variable! Have fun experimenting with any variation of bread, breakfast meat, greens and veggies, cheese, even types of eggs (duck egg strata anyone?!) It’s a perfect recipe to use up any Grade B or slightly old veggies, and any leftover unused bread. Use these measurements only as a rough guide. This recipe is easy to scale up or down. Because it can be prepared the day before and refrigerated overnight, it is the perfect go-to for hosting a brunch party or a large family holiday breakfast. 

Ingredients
About 1 loaf bread, any variety,  cut into 1-2 inch cubes

1 lb ground sausage (mild, italian, hot, chorizo, etc)

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

8 oz greens (mustard greens, swiss chard, kale, turnip greens, etc), rough chopped

4 oz cheddar cheese, grated

8 large chicken eggs

2 cups whole milk

Salt, pepper to taste

optional: Spicy garden blend 

 DIRECTIONS
Drying the bread first allows it to soak up even more of the delicious egg and milk mixture later on. Leave the bread out on the counter to dry naturally or, to speed up the process, cube the bread and place in the oven at 300 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, just until dried out. 

1. Brown and fully cook the sausage. Remove and drain all but 2 Tbsp of the rendered fat.

2. Cook the onions, bell pepper, and garlic in the rendered sausage fat until fully cooked and just beginning to take on color. Deglaze the pan with a splash of vinegar or white wine  to release all the delicious flavors left from the sausage. Season with salt and pepper throughout the cooking process. Remove from heat, combine with the cooked sausage, and mix in the chopped greens. Set aside. 

3. Whisk together the eggs, milk, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. 

4. Build the strata. Generously butter a 9x9 baking dish, coating both the bottom and the sides. Add half of the dried bread cubes in the bottom layer. Spread half of the veggie and sausage mix over top the bread, as well as half the amount of shredded cheese. Repeat with another layer of bread cubes, then veggie and sausage mix, and top it off with a layer of shredded cheese

5. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the strata.

6. Cover with foil and place some weights on top; heavy bags of sugar, dried beans, whatever is on hand! Weighing down the strata helps form it into a uniform and compressed shape. 

7. Refrigerate for at least one hour or ideally overnight.  

8. Preheat oven to 350. 

9. Take off the weights and foil. Bake uncovered for about 45-55 minutes until the edges have just begun to pull away from the baking dish and the center of the dish looks just barely set. It will continue to cook a bit while it rests so be mindful not to overcook it.  A knife inserted in the center of the strata should peirce easily with no resistance, but should not reveal any stringy, uncooked egg.