Eggs are the classic breakfast food, but these days eggs are showing up in every meal.
Stratas are a great dish to get ready the night before so weeknight dinners won’t feel like such a hassle. Bread, eggs and cheese are mixed with other goodies. Let it soak overnight then bake it up when you get home. Poof! Dinner will be ready in no time! I developed a Sweet Pepper & Sausage Breakfast Strata using Sunset Peppers – it’s a great base recipe to get creative with. Want to spice it up a bit? Try subbing chorizo for the sausage and pepper jack for the Italian cheese blend – Yum!
Photo by Kathy Casey Food Studios.
Have you ever had eggs on a pizza – it’s so good! Just break a raw egg in the center of your pizza right before you bake it and be amazed. I love it with roasted peppers, Italian sausage and spinach. If you like that idea and burgers, put an egg on it! Top your fave burger with a sunnyside up egg for a richer taste.
How about trying ‘shirred’ eggs? Bake a whole raw egg over tomato sauce, veggies and topped with cheese. Serve it with crusty bread for an easy and d’lish dinner.
And of course I can’t forget Deviled Eggs because I wrote a whole book on them – D’Lish Deviled Eggs! I could just eat them for dinner!
What an ‘egg-celent’ way to start and end the day. It’s the perfect time to try out a new egg dish because January is National Egg Month! -Kathy
Sweet Pepper & Sausage Breakfast Strata
Strata makes for a lovely mid-day dinner, brunch or breakfast dish for a crowd. You can prep it the day or evening before your party and then just pop the strata in the oven 45 minutes before your guests arrive.
Makes about 6 – 8 servings
3 Sunset Red, Yellow or Orange Sweet Bell Peppers, or a combination
1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage
1/2 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
8 eggs
3 cups half-and-half
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 cups 1-inch-diced French or Italian rustic bread, such as a baguette
2 cups (8 oz) grated Italian cheese blend
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Seed the peppers, dice them into 1/2″ pieces and set aside.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add sausage and cook until half done, about 3 minutes. Add onion and reserved peppers, and sauté for about 8 –10 minutes or until peppers are tender-crisp. Stir in garlic. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper until well combined. Add bread, Italian cheese blend, half the Parmesan cheese and the cooked sausage-pepper mixture.
Transfer mixture to an 11×13″ baking pan and lightly press into pan to fill evenly. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over the top and let sit, refrigerated, for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight, so that bread soaks up egg mixture.
When ready to serve, preheat oven to 350°F and bake strata for about 45 – 50 minutes or until puffy and golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Chef’s Notes: 1 baguette averages about 8 cups diced bread. Be sure to use a somewhat hearty bread for making this dish. Strata is also excellent as a simple supper dish.
Recipe by Kathy Casey Food Studios for Sunset Produce.
