Mushroom, Bacon, and Swiss Strata
Photo: Oxmoor House
Breakfast casseroles are ideal for overnight guests. Assemble it the night before, and bake in the morning.
How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°.
Step 2
Arrange bread in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until toasted. Place bread cubes in a large bowl.
Step 3
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms to pan; sauté 10 minutes or until liquid evaporates and vegetables are tender. Add onion mixture to bread; toss well to combine. Arrange half of bread mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with half of cheese and half of bacon; top with remaining bread mixture, cheese, and bacon.
Step 4
Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk. Pour milk mixture over bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours.
Step 5
Preheat oven to 350°.
Step 6
Remove strata from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Bake strata, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.
Also appeared in: Oxmoor House, None, 2013,Cooking Light Lighten Up, America!
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I made this strata and froze it last week. Have you ever frozen it?
Do you happen to know if this strata can be frozen?
sharonfrommi's Review
Wonderful. I made this and a french toast casserole for a birthday brunch I hosted. While the other recipe was good, everyone raved about this one and there wasn't a scrap left in the pan. It was so good that every single person who ate it emailed me within the next 2 days asking for the recipe. It will become a staple in our house.
detailaddict's Review
This is a good company-worthy recipe for strata that doesn't call for expensive ingredients. The prep work can take some time, as the mushrooms and onions release a LOT of liquid to be cooked off, but the flavor is always good. I use the frozen heels of homemade bread loaves (measured by volume, not weight) and homemade egg substitute (3T liquid egg whites, 1t oil, 1T powdered milk for 1/4 c.), which works reasonably well; but I may start reducing the volume of milk as the strata turns out a little soggy on the inside. Most recently I served this with sliced sauteed Granny Smith apples.
jmeleeS's Review
Good recipe, but I did make some changes: 1) used harvest wheat bread in lieu of ciabatta; 2) did not "soak" overnight as I think that makes the whole casserole taste "mushy" (texture preference)& 3) used baby swiss (again, taste preference). Otherwise made as directed and I would make again in the future. Next time I would put in some color (i.e. - colored bell pepper) and maybe other veggies (like asparagus) to give it even more flavor and "health." Overall, it doesn't taste very "light" but it's a solid recipe and I'd make again; enjoy!
DonnaD's Review
This had good flavor. It was a bit too dry for my liking. The bread on the top was more like croutons. If I made again I would add more egg substitute and spices.
cookingmouse's Review
This has become our favorite brunch recipes. It is very flavorful and I don't think it is overly time consuming to make as long as you have time the evening prior. Over the years, I have tried many different egg-based casseroles and this one is a keeper. I do use ciabatta rolls which may make it less soggy since there are lots of
Maharlia's Review
My cafeteria at work cooked this recipe yestereay for breakfst and I almost fell over myself about how good it is. I came hunting for the recipe on the site so that I can make it at home.
seaside725's Review
I thought this was ok. It was easy to make, but I needed to look it longer then the recipe called for. Other then that I followed the recipe with no changes. I think I would put in more bacon.
Very good