Southwestern Breakfast Strata

Southwestern Breakfast Strata

Makes 12 Servings

If summer time for you is anything like it is for me, it usually means lots of get-togethers, family and friends visiting and maybe taking a nice vacation all together. However your summer looks, this quick and easy Southwestern Breakfast Strata is a great way to start your day and perfect for large crowds. It’s bursting with Southwestern flavors thanks to the spicy jalapenos, hint of hot sauce and onions. I mostly used liquid egg whites for the egg mixture, which helps to lighten things up, and coconut milk instead of the traditional heavy cream. I also used turkey breakfast sausage links, which are already fully cooked, so you really can have this Strata put together in a sinch. Traditionally, you would leave this to soak overnight, covered, and then bake it off in the morning. If you have the time, feel free to do so. But, I prefer to just whip it all up together and baked it off straight away to save time. You can easily make this dairy free by substituting your favorite dairy free shredded cheese.  This will absolutely have your diners saying “Olé, may I have seconds?” Happy Summer everyone!

Ingredients

• 7 slices Schar Artisan Baker Classic White bread, cubed into bite size pieces (this is roughly 4 cups or ½ pound)

• 1 jalapeno, de-seeded and finely diced

• ½ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

• ½ cup mushroom caps, finely chopped (I used baby bellas)

• 1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped

• 8 (about 6 ounces total) fully cooked turkey breakfast sausage links, roughly chopeed into bite size pieces (we used Applegate Naturals brand)

• 1 + 1/3 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese

• ¼ cup green onions, finely chopped

• 1 + ½ cups liquid egg whites (equivalent to 10 eggs)

• 4 large eggs

• ½ cup milk of your preference (I used So Delicious’s original coconut creamer)

• 6-8 dashes of hot sauce, I like Crystal or Tabasco brand

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• Note: you will also need a 8” by 10” inch baking dish and either vegetable spray or butter to grease well.

Steps

1.     Grease an 8” x 10” casserole dish well with either vegetable cooking spray or butter and set aside.

2.     Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

3.     Arrange the cubed bread chunks evenly in the bottom of the prepared dish.

4.     In a large mixing bowl combine the jalapeno, red bell pepper, mushrooms, red onion and breakfast sausage chunks and still gently to mix well.

5.     Add all of this mixture on top of the bread cubes in the dish and make sure all is evenly distributed.

6.     In a blender combine the liquid egg whites, the whole eggs, milk, hot sauce and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Blend on high for a minute or so until all is well mixed, frothy and fluffy.

7.     Pour this egg mixture over the cubed bread and veggies in the dish being sure to cover all as evenly as possible. Take a spatula and pat the bread down a bit to ensure each bread cube is saturated with the egg mixture.

8.     Sprinkle the shredded cheese all over the top and bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and all the egg mixture and center are cooked through.

9.     After the baking time remove from oven and let cool a few minutes.  Scatter the green onions all over the top, slice into 12’ths and serve. This Strata can be enjoyed either warm or cold.

*Jilly’s Top Tips: The great things about Breakfast Casseroles like this Strata are they are completely customizable for whatever you and your family fancies. Add any veggie or herbs you like or if you want to keep it a vegetarian dish, simply omit the breakfast sausage. And remember whatever you do, have fun! That is what cooking and sharing food love is all about.