ITALIAN SAUSAGE, BELL PEPPER & PARMESAN CHEESE STRATA

I don't know about you guys, but when I have guests I really don't like to do alot of cooking in front of them.  I feel like when I am cooking and working in front of them I do not get to enjoy their company and then that defeats the purpose of inviting people over to your home.  This recipe, Italian Sausage, Bell Pepper and Parmesan Cheese Strata is awesome AND it can be made the night before OR the morning of.  I always try to have some sort of "bake" for breakfast on Christmas morning and my husband said he believes we have a new "winner" with this recipe...which is a major compliment.  I got the recipe from epicurious.com and it called for fontina cheese.  Fontina cheese is really soft and I did not believe it would taste as good as grated parmesan or romano.  Hey...who am I to argue with the pro's, but that was just my opinion. Also, I do agree with them not to use green bell pepper and to use red, orange or yellow instead.  I feel bad for the poor green pepper, but the other colors have a way better flavor. Anyway, try this recipe...it is easy to make and it tastes great!  The one tip that I learned from this recipe is to cook the peppers on the other side of the sausage in the same pan.  It really flavors the peppers and also carmalizes them from the oils in the sausage.

 

 

 

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, BELL PEPPER & PARMESAN CHEESE STRATA   

  

• 6 large eggs 
• 21/2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup finely grated Romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound hot Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1 large red bell pepper, halved, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch wide-strips
• 1 1-pound loaf rustic French bread, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 2 cups (loosely packed) coarsely grated parmesan, romano or provolone cheese

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2- inch ceramic or glass baking dish.

Whisk first 7 ingredients in large bowl; sprinkle generously with pepper. Set aside.

Place sausage in large nonstick skillet; push to 1 side. Add bell pepper to other side of skillet.

Sauteacute; over high heat, breaking up sausage with fork, until sausage is cooked through and bell peppers are brown in spots, about 7 minutes.

Arrange half of bread slices in prepared dish. Pour half of egg mixture over. Sprinkle with half of cheese, then half of sausage pepper mixture. Repeat layering.

Let stand 20 minutes, occasionally pressing on bread to submerge. Bake strata until puffed and brown, about 1 hour. Cool slightly.