To Casserole or Not to Casserole
When it comes to holiday meals, my family partitions into two factions: the die-hard casserolers, and the please-something-other-than-a-casserolers. I am chief executive of the latter. Some foods simply taste better roasted or grilled or seared or pan-fried, seasoned and dressed on their own. Mashing food up does not inevitably make it better. (Do me a favor and don’t bring this up with my sister.)
Nevertheless, when chosen and treated carefully, many medleys can be amplified in quality and taste casserolified. This means distinct textures (not a uniform mash), complementary flavors (not drowned out), and optimized cooking times so that no component ends up over- or under-done. Plus, you can’t ignore the benefits of ease, advanced prep, hands-off time in the oven, the ability to satisfy a hungry crowd, and perfect leftovers.
Strata does it all
This strata checks every box for the kind of “casserole” I can get on board with — bread that remains chewy and toasty and crusty, creamy egg and melty cheese, crisp bits of sausage throughout, tender yet textured veggies, and a balance of saltiness with savory spice, garlic, and fresh herbs. Perfect for Sunday brunch with the family, a holiday breakfast/brunch dish you can prep ahead, or “meal prep” to have literally any hour of the day. I can personally confirm this tastes good for breakfast, brunch, lunch, late lunch, pre-dinner appetizer, or 3am dinner-snack. You really can’t go wrong making it.
Plus, while a sausage-egg-cheese-bread bake seems like it would fall on the heavy side, the ciabatta is so airy and voluminous that the strata turns out surprisingly light. Not too much cream, aged high-quality cheese that maximizes flavor without overloading it, lean chicken sausage without excess grease, and yummy spinach that doesn’t even feel like eating veggies for breakfast. In other words, go ahead and indulge in your portion size without subjecting yourself to a food coma for the rest of the day, and don’t mind taking a sweet muffin or cinnamon roll on the side.
Sausage and Spinach Strata
Crusty ciabatta married with creamy egg and aged cheddar, sweet and spicy chicken sausage, onions, spinach, and plenty of garlic and herbs. A hands-free, elegant, crowd-pleasing savory brunch that's comforting and filling yet surprisingly light.
Notes
The amounts listed below make a smaller batch (8"x6" to 8"x8" dish). To feed a large group +/- leftovers, scale the recipe up x4 and use a deep 9"x13" baking dish.
Prepare ahead of time so the bread can soak at least 2 hours or up to 12 hours.
Ingredients
- 2-3 tsp butter, plus more as needed for sautéing
- 4 oz uncooked chicken breakfast sausage (without casing)
- ~ 1/4 medium yellow or sweet onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2-3 tsp white wine or chicken broth, as needed to deglaze
- 1.5 cups spinach
- 5.5 oz ciabatta bread (or crusty Italian, French, leftover focaccia, or savory bagels), cut into roughly 1-inch cubes
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup half n' half
- pinch sea salt (~1/16 tsp), or to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tsp Everything seasoning
- 1/2 - 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp chopped green onion or chives
- crushed red pepper, to taste
- 2 oz aged white cheddar, shredded (Kerrygold aged cheddar with whiskey is amazing)
Instructions
- Prepare a small deep casserole dish (such as 8"x8" or 8"x6") by coating the bottom and sides generously with butter.
- Heat a small/medium skillet over medium heat. Sauté the sausage until browned while crumbling into small pieces with a spatula. Remove sausage from the pan. Add a dollop of butter to the same skillet and swirl to melt. Sauté onion on low-medium heat until tender and translucent. Add garlic and a pinch of salt and black pepper, and cook a couple minutes longer. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine, and immediately add spinach. Stir to scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pan while spinach is softening. Add another splash of wine or broth as needed to wilt the spinach. *But avoid excess liquid so the strata will not get soggy.
- Meanwhile, combine the eggs and heavy cream in a mixing bowl. Whisk just until evenly incorporated (don't over-beat). Stir in salt, black pepper, Everything seasoning, parsley, green onion or chives, and a pinch crushed red pepper, if desired.
- Layer half of the cubed bread in the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Spread on half of the spinach/onion mixture, half of the sausage, half of the cheese, and pour over half of the egg mixture. Repeat the layers.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 2-3 hours, or up to 12 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then uncovered another 25 minutes, or until cooked through and crisp on top. Serve warm.
- Once cooled, leftovers can be refrigerated up to about 5 days or frozen up to 2 months.
