Strata with Sausage, Cheese and Herbs

By rossboys

You can use turkey sausage or mild or hot Italian sausage in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 20 oz sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 med onion, chopped into 1/2" pieces
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 10 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 16 oz egg bread or country bread (preferably 1 to 2 days old), cut into 1/2" thick slices
• 2-1/2 cups shredded Fontina or Swiss cheese

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13" baking dish.

In a large skillet over medium heat, break up sausage and saute until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside on paper towel to drain. Add the 1 Tbsp butter to the same skillet and melt. Add the onions, mushrooms, and bell pepper and saute until they are tender. Remove from heat and cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the thyme, cream, half-and-half, eggs. salt and pepper, and set aside.

Lay half of the bread in the buttered baking dish, sprinkle with half of the sausage mixture, half of the mushroom mixture, and about half of the cheese. Repeat layering with remaining bread, sausage, mushroom, and cheese. Slowly pour egg mixture over top. Press down on the bread so it gets covered with the egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. Remove the strata from the refrigerator while the oven is preheating. Uncover and place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch overflow. Bake 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.