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Sausage strata made simple

When I made this week’s recipe, I was mad at myself for not making it sooner and not making it more often throughout my life. Seriously, what have I been doing missing out on the best, easiest brunch dish ever?!

Strata is the ultimate impress-company-without-doing-much-work meal, and I didn’t think to make it regularly so that I could have breakfast, brunch, and/or lunch for almost a week. I’ve been a fool.

Strata ingredients.

I’ve learned my lesson now, though.

Recipes abound for how to make this but there’s no real universal dish or way to make it, so I did it my way, and therefore I loved it. But this is one of those recipes where you can substitute pretty much anything.

For my tastes, I wanted sausage, pepper, and onion. I also wanted the, well, sour taste of sourdough bread instead of the plainer french bread. But your mileage may vary and that’s fine.

Prefer bacon? Do it. Hate onions? Skip ‘em, or replace with another veggie.

Oh, and it can all be made in one pot.

It’s truly an amazing dish and so universal. I’ll definitely be making it again soon.

*nom nom noms*

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. breakfast sausage
  • 1 T. oil, depending on how fatty your sausage is
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 medium green pepper, chopped
  • 1 sourdough boule, roughly torn into pieces
  • 2 c. cheese, plus more for topping (I used Cabot’s Mac & Cheese that’s a mix of Parmesan, Swiss, and cheddar, but whatever works)
  • 12 eggs
  • 3 c. milk
  • 1 ½ t. dried oregano
  • 1 ½ t. dried (or fresh) basil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

The night before you plan to cook the strata, thoroughly cook the sausage (using oil if necessary) in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, adding onions and peppers part-way through so that they are softened.

Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool completely.

Meanwhile, mix together the eggs, milk, herbs and spices, and cheese. Place the torn bread pieces in the Dutch oven with the sausage mix, and stir to combine. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage mixture. It’s OK if it’s a little soupy, as the bread will absorb it over time.

Cover and refrigerate the mixture overnight.

In the morning, heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the Dutch oven, still covered, in the oven and bake the mixture for 45 minutes to an hour until the the eggs are cooked through, adding another half cup or so of cheese to the top about 15 minutes before the dish is complete.

Allow to cool slightly, if possible, and enjoy!

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A mostly muffaletta

I had been thinking about ways of making a grilled sandwich on a sheet pan when I came across the perfect recipe. As in, Delish had a recipe for sheet pan subs.

But, of course, I wasn’t content with the ingredients that made up the Italian submarine. I waffled for a few days over whether to make it anyway or do reubens/rachels instead, or a combination of each since the sheet pan could fit both. That’s when I remembered the Italian meat-using New Orleans favorite that my brother is enamored with: the muffaletta.

Sheet pan muffaletta ingredients.

It was like the Italian sub, what with Italian meats, some pickled relish, and cheese. But, you know, better. And while the bread appropriate for sheet pans wouldn’t be the traditional muffaletta kind, it was at least pressed to mimic the scooped out recipe of the original. Either way, it’d really let the insides of the sandwich shine.

So, with a pound and half of meat, a pound of cheese, and more than enough pickled items, I set about making the sandwich. I otherwise mostly followed the recipe, using a second sheet pan and an oven-proof weight to press the sandwich together.

It turned out almost perfect. I would say in hindsight that the sandwich could have cooked a while longer just to get the tops more browned. But otherwise, the cheese was melted, the meat was warm, and the sammies tasted great.

I did bring it to a friendly get-together because, well, look at how much meat and cheese it used. Even with eight people eating it — admittedly with other snacks and drinks throughout the day — I still took home about half. I’d say you could skimp on some meat, but the whole point of the sheet pan sandwich seems to be overindulgence, so go ahead and live a little.

Oh, but if the muffaletta doesn’t strike your fancy, I do truly believe this would have worked as a reuben/rachel or any grilled sandwich, just replace the meats and cheeses with your favorites and skip the relish or replace it with something more to your liking.

You mostly see bread, but trust me, there’s a whole lotta delicious meat and cheese inside.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 stick of melted butter, divided
  • 1 ½ to 2 loaves of sliced bread, I opted for sourdough but pick what works best with your sammy (like, I’d use a seeded rye if making a reuben)
  • 1 ½ lbs. Italian meats, sliced (I did a combination of salamis, capicola, and mortadella, which is traditional, but I’m already stepping on tradition so who am I to judge?)
  • 1 lb. provolone, sliced
  • 8 oz. (about half a jar) of giardiniera, chopped
  • 6 to 8 oz. mix of capers, sliced black olives, and sliced green olives

Directions

Heat an oven to 400 degrees.

Brush about half the butter onto a large rimmed sheet pan. Top with bread, it can be slightly overlapping like shingles, and use your fingers to press it down slightly. Add the giardiniera to the top of the bread. Add half the cheese on top of that. Top the cheese with the meat slices. Add the remaining cheese on top, and then top with the olive, caper mixture, to taste. Place bread on top until covered, again can be slightly overlapping. Brush the bread with the remaining butter.

Place another large baking sheet on top (mine was slightly smaller, which worked fine), and use a cast-iron skillet or the like on top to press down on the bread.

Bake for about 10 minutes until the sandwich is starting to brown. Then, remove the weight and the top sheet pan. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or so until the top bread is golden too. Let cool slightly and then cut into sandwich-size servings (friends suggested a pizza cutter would work well here) and enjoy!