Overnight Sausage Gruyere Strata

Stop throwing out day old bread! Make a strata instead 🤗. I love to make this recipe when we have guests from out of town because everything is prepared the night before so I pop it into the oven and am able to enjoy morning coffee and conversation with the crew.

The key to strata is having extremely toasted bread. You want to remove as much moisture as possible so it can soak up the moisture you put in. The same applies for the other ingredients you put in. You want to squeeze as much moisture out of the spinach as possible so that the strata can form.

The nice thing about strata is it is so versatile. Don’t like gruyere? First of all we can’t be friends, but you can use any cheese you like. Want bacon? Ham? Mushrooms? Go for it.

This is our favorite way to make it and I hope you enjoy too!

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Ingredients

• 5 cups day old bread cut into 1x1 inch cubes

• 1 lb ground breakfast sausage

• 1 large onion cut in half and sliced thinly

• 2 tbs butter

• 1 package spinach (we used fresh spinach and sautéed until wilted but can also use frozen spinach)

• 1 tbs thyme, chopped

• 2 cups whole milk

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 12 large eggs

• 8 oz gruyere cheese, shredded

• 1/2 tsp mustard powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Place cubes of bread onto foil-lined baking sheet and toast in oven for 15 minutes, giving them a toss every 5 minutes or so

3. Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over low heat, add the butter

4. Once butter is melted, toss in onions and add a pinch of salt and pepper

5. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions caramelize and turn light brown

6. Add in chopped thyme and stir for 1-2 minutes

7. Once bread is toasted, grease the bottom of a casserole dish and toss bread cubes in

8. Layer onions over the toasted bread cubes

9. Using the same skillet, cook breakfast sausage chopping into smaller pieces with a spatula

10. Once fully cooked, place onto paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil and layer in casserole dish over onions

11. Defrost spinach or cook fresh spinach in skillet until wilted down and place in fine mesh strainer or cheese-cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

12. Layer spinach over sausage in casserole dish

13. In a large bowl, mix together milk, heavy cream, eggs, mustard powder, salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and whisk until smooth

14. Add shredded gruyere to egg mixture, mix and pour over casserole dish, making sure to completely cover all of the bread

15. Cover and refrigerate over-night

16. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, uncover, and bake for one hour until the middle doesn't jiggle when shaken

17. Let cool for 10-15 min then slice and enjoy!