Italian Cheese
Strata
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped scallion
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 red bell peppers, cut into small squares (about 2 cups)
2 other colored bell peppers, cut into small squares (about 2 cups)
Enough Italian bread cut into 1-inch cubes to measure 9 cups (about 1 1/2 loaves)
2 1/2 cups coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (about 10 ounces)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
12 large eggs
3 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
Tabasco (I used Chipotle hot sauce) to taste
Directions
Oven to 350
In a large skillet cook the onion, the scallion, and the mushrooms in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, add the bell peppers and salt and pepper to taste, and cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until all the liquid the mushrooms gives off is evaporated and the peppers are tender. You could throw in a quarter cup of brandy here and flambe the veggies before you add them to the dish to amp it up!
Arrange half the bread cubes in a buttered large shallow (4
1/2-quart) baking dish, spread half the vegetable mixture over them, and
sprinkle half the Cheddar and half the Parmesan over the vegetables.
Arrange the remaining
bread cubes over the cheese, top them with the remaining vegetables, and sprinkle
the remaining cheese over the top.
In a bowl whisk
together the eggs, the milk, the mustard, the Tabasco, and salt & pepper to
taste, pour the egg mixture evenly over the strata, and chill the strata, covered,
overnight.
Let the strata stand at room temperature for 15 minutes and bake
it in the middle of a preheated 350 F oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until
it is puffed and golden and cooked through.
This recipe doubles easily to fit into a standard commercial chafing dish. I used multi-grain Gluten Free bread recently and it worked out very well.
