using up stale bread and surplus of eggs

May 27, 2011

Was looking for a recipe that would make use of some french bread i had laying around and the surplus of eggs we have these days.  I came across this recipe called a "strata", I have never heard of a strata before, but the ingredients were familiar.  I have made omelets and quiches before but this called for day old french bread or Italian bread.  While in my search for a new recipe to use up ingredients i had on hand, i discovered there are many eggs dishes that are similar but some are cooked in different ways.  An omelet is an egg mixture of meats, cheese, vegetables, cooked on top of the stove.  A Frittata is an egg mixture of the same but cooked in an oven.  A quiche is an egg mixture of the same meats, cheese, and  vegetables also but its poured into a pie shell and baked.  A strata is the same with the exception of bread cubed up and its also baked in the oven.  Whats fun about making these dishes is that you can combine what ever you like as far as meats, vegetables and cheese to your liking.  Be creative and use up some leftovers.  My family loved it..........

                            

                                                                Spinach and sausage strata   

I started out by tearing the bread into pieces and covered the bottom of a 9x13 dish.  If you don't have french bread you can use stale slice bread, about 9 slices, enough to have a good layer on the bottom.  I used a 9x9 dish .

Brown breakfast sausage in a skillet, add onions, green onions and parsley and cook until wilted.

Drain spinach and squeeze out any water.

Add meat mixture and drained spinach to bread.  Beat eggs with milk, add salt and pepper or other seasonings of choice, pour over bread mixture, top with cheese and let set on counter for 15-20 minutes to let bread absorb milk.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes until golden and eggs are set, and knife inserted comes out clean.

Spinach and Sausage Strata

9 slices of stale bread; or french bread or Italian bread

1 small pkg breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean)

1 small pkg frozen spinach thawed

9 eggs beaten

2 cups milk or half and half

shredded cheese of choice

1 small onion, green onions and parsley

salt and pepper to taste

This is an quick and easy recipe that my family loves for brunch on the weekends.  Give it a try and let me know what you think............

               Thanks for stopping by.......................................

                        Live simple........................................Sheryl