Sunday, December 4, 2011

Italian Breakfast Strata and Hodgson Mill Giveaway Winner



Planning for a Christmas morning breakfast, then this just might be the ticket!  It whips up it minutes and you make it the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning.  Don't you just love things that you can prepare the night before, especially for Christmas morning when the kids just want to jump at the presents. 

With the aid of Random. Org, Commenter Number 15 is the winner of the $25 Gift Code for the online Hodgson Mill Stores.  Start your oven  Marlis (Creative Journeys)!  Marlis creates beautiful tablescapes on her blog and is a very gracious blogger.  I know you will bake up something delicious!  I just used Hodgson Mill whole-wheat flour for a cake and it was so yummy and moist. 

 

We always eat a huge breakfast on Christmas morning and the rule is that the children can only open their stockings before breakfast -- the kids have to wait to open their presents until after breakfast.   Yes, I am a mean mother :).

The Broken Bread



Ingredients for Italian Breakfast Strata
Adapted from the December 2011 issue of Family Circle

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (NOT soaked in oil)
1 cup water
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage with casings removed
1 each of green and red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
8 green onions, diced
1 loaf Italian bread (14 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
8 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup packed basil leaves, chopped
2 cups shredded  mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

When I was making this, I felt very Christmas-y with all the red and green going on.


1.  Bring 1 cup of water to boil.  Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and add water.  Let stand 10 minutes to soften tomatoes.
2.  Meanwhile, place sausage into a large nonstick skillet.  Cook over medium to medium-high heat for six minutes.  Add peppers and onions and cook, sitting occasionally for about four minutes.  Remove from heat.  Drain sun-dried tomatoes and chop.  Stir into sausage mixture into skillet.
3.  Place bread cubes in a very large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and chopped basil (or dried basil).  Stir sausage mixture into bread along with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.  Pour egg mixture over bread mixture and stir to moisten all ingredients.  Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour bread mixture into prepared dish.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight
4.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Uncover baking dish  and top with remaining Mozzarella Cheese and Parmesan Cheese.  Spray foil (the side that will touch the casserole) with baking spray.  Cover baking dish with foil.  Bake, covered, for 45 minutes.  Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Cool slightly before serving.

Notes:  Fresh basil and red peppers are very dear right now so I used 1 tablespoon of dried basil.  I know it would taste much better with fresh basil.  I  used two green peppers instead of a green and a red.  I knew I would be okay because I had the red of the sun-dried tomatoes already in the mix.




16 comments:

Unknown said...

this looks amazing--i love strata and sometimes wonder why it becomes a christmas morning, only, type of meal...i should think of it more often. for the record, my folks were stockings before breakfast people too. we couldn't even look at what was under the tree (the doors were kept closed) until after we ate..and i turned out okay :) Happy Holidays

Barbara F. said...

Yum! I don't want to wait for Christmas, I may make it this week!! :) xo Congrats to Peggy!

Marlis said...

Joni.. Oh goodness. I certainly have been so blessed! Thank you random.org! I am so excited. Let me go start planning my shopping trip! thanks again.. xo marlis

Lisa said...

My mom used to make this every year for Christmas! I make eggnog french toast and now my kids expect it. And you are not a mean mom at all Joni!
Lisa

Debbie said...

First, Congrats to Marlis! She happens to be a favorite blogger of mine.

Second, I'm pinning this one! The husband will love love love it. I can tell by the ingredients.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Wonderful dish for a winter morning. I can smell it baking now!

Congratulations to Marlis!!

Jacqueline said...

Strata is total comfort food. I just love it in the little red casserole too. That would be so pretty during the holidays. We are big into Christmas breakfast around here.

Renée said...

Merry, merry to Marlis! I'm thinking this looks too good to wait for Christmas Joni. It has all of our favorite things.

Diane Hodrick said...

oh my gosh, this sounds delicious. I've never done a strata, but if you can make it the night before, it's going on the list. The bread scares me, but you've never steered me wrong. ;)

Lynn said...

Congrats to Marlis! The Strata looks great Joni, I agree that it's very Christmas-y:@)

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

Congrats to your winner, Joni!

Your strata looks wonderful! I always do a strata for Christmas morning brunch also which has been a tradition for about the last 10 years. Mine has turkey Italians and rosemary and Monterey Jack cheese. I think these kind of dishes really take the stress out of Christmas and taste so good!

Sue said...

We had the same rule about "stockings only" before breakfast:) I love Christmas breakfasts that can be made the night before. This sounds hearty and will keep everyone full until dinnertime. ~Sue

Pondside said...

This sounds like a great take on the traditional 'wife saver' strata that we've had in years past.

Velva said...

Beautiful Christmas breakfast. Thanks for sharing.

Velva

Amy said...

COngrats to the winner. Ah...I love your Italian Breakfast Strata recipe. I want to wake up to this on my table tomorrow morning! :P

Indian Fashion said...

delicious look and yummy recipes. sweet posting so thanks

Engageya