Italian Breakfast Strata

Strata is a layered casserole dish with a wide array of ingredient options and is delicious for any meal of the day. It works especially well as breakfast or brunch, but changing up the ingredients to your liking and serving strata for lunch or dinner is also a great option. This specific recipe, courtesy of La Tourangelle, uses basil, prosciutto, and parmesan to allow for a wonderful mix of flavors and consistencies.

Important note: this recipe requires preparation the night before and overnight refrigeration.

 

Credit: La Tourangelle

Ingredients

Either 1 loaf of ciabatta or 2 baguettes
5 oz. grated parmesan
6 oz. prosciutto
1 c. heavy cream
6 large eggs
1 c. whole milk
1 tbsp. mustard
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil (or 2 tbsp. dried basil)
2 tbsp. La Tourangelle French Infused basil oil
2 tbsp. melted butter

Instructions

Prepare a large casserole dish by greasing the bottom. Cut up the ciabatta or baguettes into large cubes, separate the cubes into three equal piles, and layer 1/3 along the bottom of the dish. Top this layer with 3 oz. of the prosciutto and 2.5 oz. of the grated parmesan (half of the amount for the recipe). Repeat this process by layering the bread followed by the rest of the prosciutto and parmesan. Lastly, top the casserole off with the remaining bread. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, eggs, milk, mustard, basil, and black pepper until smooth. Pour this mixture over the casserole, then press down on the whole strata with your hands or a spatula. Drizzle the butter and basil oil on top. Refrigerate overnight or until egg mixture is soaked up.

In the morning (or after waiting long enough for the egg mixture to soak up), preheat your oven to 350 and take strata out of the refrigerator to come to room temp. This should take about 20 minutes. Bake the strata for about an hour, or until center is set and the top of the casserole is golden brown. Cut into pieces and serve!