‘Much like the Oven Frittata, a strata is a versatile dish for clearing out odds and ends in the fridge, and it’s make-ahead friendly.
In the interest of full disclosure: I could easily pass on stuffing, bread pudding, french toast—you get the idea. So why on earth would I tell you to make a strata? Well, for starters, I’ve met very few people who share my indifference to mildly mushy bread-focused dishes, so the odds are good that you enjoy them, too. But secondly, a strata is one of the best ways to put stale bread to good use.’
–Extracted from Cooking With Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals by Lindsay-Jean Hard (Workman Publishing)
INGREDIENTS: (Makes 4 to 6 servings)
Butter for greasing the baking dish, plus more (optional) for sautéing the filling
6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk (for an eggier strata, up the amount of eggs; for a mushier strata, add more milk)
Fine-grain sea salt and pepper, to taste
Up to 6 cups uncooked or 3 cups cooked vegetables and meat for the filling (see Step 3)
Olive oil, for sautéing the filling (unless using butter)
6 to 8 cups cubed (3/4 to 1 inch) stale bread (see Note)
3/4 to 1 1/2 cups grated or crumbled cheese, depending on how many cheese nubs you’re trying to clear out (and how cheesy you want it to be)
METHOD
1. Grease a 3-quart baking dish with butter.
2. Whisk the eggs and milk together along with a healthy pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, and set aside.
3. Vegetables and meat need to be cooked before baking, so chop any uncooked items and sauté them with a little butter or olive oil. The amounts you choose can vary widely, and remember that most will shrink after cooking, so it’s hard to overdo it. A small or medium onion and a garlic clove or two are always a good start, and then think about what you have left in your fridge that might work well together. A half pound of sausage and a bunch of spinach (cook the sausage first, and then add the greens to wilt them), or a package of mushrooms with bacon and Swiss cheese, or leftover squash with a small bunch of Swiss chard, or cherry tomatoes with corn cut off of a couple of cobs and blobs of ricotta. (Note that leftover cooked meats and vegetables don’t need to be cooked again.)
4. Spread about half the bread cubes in the bottom of the buttered dish, then layer on half of the cheese and half of the vegetables and meat. Then repeat: Layer on the rest of the bread and remaining ingredients.
5. Pour the egg and milk mixture over everything. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the dish from the refrigerator and bake, covered with aluminium foil, for 30 to 40 minutes. Uncover at the end for some browning action if desired.
NOTE:
If your bread isn’t stale to start with, you have a couple of options for getting it there. If you’re not in a rush, place thick slices of bread on a baking sheet or for even better air circulation, a cooling rack, and leave the slices to dry out for a day. The faster option involves your oven. I pop cubes of bread on a baking sheet in a 200°F oven and leave them in there while I prep other ingredients—they will dry out in about 40 minutes or so. If you want them to dry even faster, crank it up to 350°F, but pay closer attention—your bread cubes will be toasted in 15 to 20 minutes.
–Extracted from Cooking With Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals by Lindsay-Jean Hard (Workman Publishing)
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Image & Text Credits: Extracted from Cooking With Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals by Lindsay-Jean Hard (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2018. Photographs by Penny De Los Santos.
