Breakfast Sausage, Pepper, and Kale Strata
BREAKFAST SAUSAGE, PEPPER, AND KALE STRATA
This is a fantastic dish to serve for a crowd or have as leftovers, as it is equally delicious served at room temperature as it is hot. Feel free to substitute any seasonal vegetable you have - try asparagus and green onions in the early summer or broccoli, zucchini, or garlic scapes. You can also sub just about any cheese you fancy! You need about an hour to soak the bread in the egg/milk mixture, but you can also prepare everything, let it sit covered overnight in the fridge, an bake in the morning.
Serves 5-6
Takes 1-8 hours to soak + 10 minutes prep + 45 minutes bake time
INGREDIENTS:
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk (or unsweetened dairy-free milk)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups day-old baguette or french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 1/2 of a large baguette) (the sourdough sandwich loaf also works for this recipe)
1/2 pound bulk breakfast sausage (or sweet or hot Italian sausage)
1 small onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 large red bell pepper, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 bunch stemmed green or lacinato kale, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cup packed)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
INSTRUCTIONS:
Whisk together eggs, milk, and salt. Stir in baguette and let sit in the fridge for about an hour* while you prepare the sausage and veggies.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat & add sausage. Use a metal spatula to flatten sausage into a thin disc. Sear for about a minute, flip, and use spatula to break up sausage into bite size pieces in the skillet. Immediately add onions and sauté with the sausage for a couple of minutes. Add peppers and sauté another couple minutes, until sausage is starting to brown and vegetables are softened. Remove from heat, stir in kale, and let cool for about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees if you wish to bake right away*. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
After sausage and veggies have cooled to just warm, stir into the egg/bread mixture along with the cheese. Pour into prepared pan* and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and just set in the middle. Let sit about 10 minutes before serving.
*If you like, you can prepare the strata, pour it into the prepped pan, and let it sit covered in the fridge overnight and bake the next morning. Just let it sit out for about 20 minutes before baking.
Dani Lind
Recipe by Dani Lind of Rooted Spoon Culinary and Red Clover Ranch
Dani Lind is a chef, caterer, recipe developer, gardener, and forager. Dani loves to create local/seasonal meals for her catering business, Rooted Spoon Culinary and for guests at Red Clover Ranch, a retreat + event space outside of Soldiers Grove, WI. She lives and gardens on a farm near Red Clover Ranch with her husband, dogs, and a small herd of grass-fed organic beef cattle.