Spinach And Fontina Strata Recipes

SPINACH & CHEESE STRATA

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and drained spinach and cook 2 minutes more. Set aside.
• Butter a 3-quart or 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread one third of the bread cubes in the dish and top evenly with one third of spinach mixture. (Try to break it up as much as possible so there are no huge clumps of spinach.) Sprinkle with one third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice, ending with cheeses.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the half-and-half, mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and whisk until well combined. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the strata. Cover the strata with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Bake the strata, uncovered, until puffed, set and golden brown all over top, 70-80 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving. It will settle a bit as it cools.
• Note: The cook time is based on the strata going immediately from the fridge to the oven. If it sits out at room temperature before baking, the cook time will be about 10 minutes less.

SOURDOUGH STRATA WITH TOMATOES AND GREENS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Toss the tomatoes with the thyme, olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper in a bowl. Spread on a baking sheet and roast, stirring once or twice, until the tomatoes are slightly dried and browned in spots, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes. Cool completely.
• Whisk the milk, eggs, fontina, 3/4 cup parmesan, the cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl. Add the bread cubes and greens and toss to coat. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish, then top with the roasted tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle the strata with the remaining 1/4 cup parmesan and bake, uncovered, until golden brown and almost set, about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, but keep the strata inside 10 minutes before serving.

SPINACH-AND-FONTINA STRATA

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Fill pan with as much spinach as will fit; cook, stirring, adding remainder a handful at a time as space allows. When all the spinach is wilted, stir in pepper and nutmeg. Drain spinach in a sieve. When cool enough to handle, squeeze excess moisture from spinach by hand.
• Butter a 3-quart baking dish. Place a third of the bread in a single layer in dish. Top with half the spinach mixture and a third of the cheeses. Repeat layering with a third of the bread, remaining spinach mixture, and a third of the cheeses, then top with remaining bread.
• Whisk together 6 eggs, 2 cups milk, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and carefully pour over bread. Cover with parchment, and gently press down with hands until egg mixture soaks through top of bread. Cover parchment with foil, and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, remove strata from refrigerator, uncover, and let stand 30 minutes. Whisk together remaining 2 eggs and 2/3 cup milk, and pour over strata, gently pressing between layers of bread with a spoon or spatula to ensure that egg mixture seeps to bottom. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake until puffed and golden brown in places, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

HAM, SPINACH, AND CHEESE STRATA

Steps:

• Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add spinach, bell peppers and leeks; cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender. Remove from heat.
• In baking dish, layer the ham, the spinach mixture, 1 cup of the Cheddar cheese and the bread. In large bowl, beat eggs, milk, mustard and pepper with wire whisk until blended and pour over bread. Sprinkle with remaining Cheddar cheese and the Italian cheese blend. Cover with foil; refrigerate at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hours (overnight is great).
• Heat oven to 325°F Bake loosely covered 40 minutes. Uncover; bake about 30 minutes longer or until top is golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.

HAM, SPINACH AND FONTINA (OR GRUYERE) STRATA

Steps:

• Preheat broiler. Cut baguette diagnoally into 3/4" thick slices. Brush both sides with butter and toast on baking sheet 3" from heat until golden, about 30 seconds each side.
• Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and stir until golden. Add ham and saute until lightly browned. Set aside.
• In large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Add toasted bread and toss gently. Transfer saturated bread to shallow 3 quart casserole, slightly overlapping slices. Place spinach and ham mixture between slices. Pour remaining egg mixture over all.
• Sprinkle cheese over strata, slightly lifting baguette slices with a spatula to allow cheese to fall between all slices. Preheat oven to 350°F Bake strata in middle of oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until puffed and edges of bread are golden and eggs are set.

SPINACH AND PANCETTA STRATA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until crisp and golden, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a bowl. Add the onion to the pan drippings in the same skillet and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the spinach and garlic. Saute over medium-low heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, nutmeg, and the cooked pancetta.
• Place half of the bread cubes in a buttered 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the bread, then top with half of the spinach mixture. Repeat layering.
• Whisk the milk, eggs, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a large bowl and pour evenly over the strata. Chill the strata, covered with plastic wrap, at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake strata uncovered until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

SAUSAGE, FONTINA, AND BELL PEPPER STRATA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2- inch ceramic or glass baking dish. Whisk first 7 ingredients in large bowl; sprinkle generously with pepper. Set aside.
• Place sausage in large nonstick skillet; push to 1 side. Add bell pepper to other side of skillet. Sauteacute; over high heat, breaking up sausage with fork, until sausage is cooked through and bell peppers are brown in spots, about 7 minutes.
• Arrange half of bread slices in prepared dish. Pour half of egg mixture over. Sprinkle with half of cheese, then half of sausagepepper mixture. Repeat layering. Let stand 20 minutes, occasionally pressing on bread to submerge. Bake strata until puffed and brown, about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

HAM, FONTINA AND SPINACH STRATA (CANMORE)

Steps:

• Preheat broiler. Cut baguette diagonall into 3/4" thick slices. Brush both sides with butter and toast on baking sheet 3" from heat until golden, about 30 seconds each side. Heat oil in large frying pan over med-high heat. Add onions and stir until golden. Add ham and saute until lightly browned. Set aside. In large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, salk, nutmeg and pepper. Add toasted bread and toss gently. Transfer saturated bread to shallow 3 quart (3 L) casserole, slightly overlapping slices. Place spinach and ham mixture between slices. Pour remaining egg misture over all. Spinkle cheese over strata, lifting slices with spatula to allow cheese to fall between all slices. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Bake strat in middle of over for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until puffed and edges of bread are golden and custard is set. This can be assembled a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Serves 6 - 8 for brunch or dinner. Year of the Best.