What’s a strata? Well, a breakfast strata is a casserole made of egg, cheese, bread, and breakfast meat. Ron Swanson’s dream (other than a heaping pile of bacon on top of an additional pile of bacon, on top of sausage). Anyway, at work, our gracious overlord bought the staff breakfast, but we were also asked to bring a casserole of our choosing. …or juice. Well I wasn’t going to be the ass face that brought juice, so I went to one of my favorite brunch items that was also one of the easiest – Sausage Breakfast Strata. Why? Because I’m an awesome team player with a culinary hand that will blow your face off by surprise. Bitches.
What could go wrong? You have breakfast in one dish. Bread, cheese, sausage, and egg. That’s a 2-2-2 deal in diners across this nation. A staple that one shan’t take away. So I made it the night before, let it sit in the fridge, and woke up early to pop this in the oven. I brought it into work, and BINGO-BANGO – it was destroyed by all. “Oh, I didn’t know you were a good cook!” “YOU made that?!” “Hey, everyone loved that breakfast casserole you brought in.” Faces. Blown. Off. And you can too…here’s how.
Simple Sausage Strata
Ingredients
6 Eggs
2 cups Milk
1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons of mustard (yellow or dijon)
1 loaf of bread (your favorite – something crusty)
1 – 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Sleeve of Sausage (1 lb crumbled sausage)
Salt & Pepper
Recipe
Cook the sausage to brown
Whisk together eggs and milk with salt & pepper
Cube your bread (I had a nice crusty loaf of Puerto Rican bread)
Grease an oven-safe baking dish (about 13 x 9)
Cover the bottom of the dish with cubed bread (use crust parts first). Eat the extra.
Sprinkle sausage on top of the bread – throughout entire dish. Use all sausage.
Sprinkle about half of the cheese on top of the sausage.
Cover with egg mixture
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top
Cover with foil and let sit in the fridge overnight. You don’t HAVE to do this, but it tastes better this way.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake the dish (uncovered) for at least 35 minutes. Depending on your oven – it may be longer. To check, put a knife in the center and it should come out clean. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Weekend mornings lead to the best breakfasts of the week. Some indulge in eggs benedict, others an omelet, and of course the classic: pancakes. I grew up nearly expecting pancakes at least one day of the weekend every week. My family went so far as buying a griddle for the grill so that we could make an evenly cooked pancake out on the deck. Pancakes are the bomb. Mixes are good, yes. But did you know that you can make them from scratch with staples that every person (should) have in their kitchen? Yes.
