I don’t think I had ever heard of strata before I came across this recipe. The picture looked good and the ingredients were all ingredients David and I like. Needing a Meatless Monday recipe, I decided to make my first mushroom spinach strata.
So what is a strata?
A strata is basically a very savory bread pudding. This mushroom spinach strata recipe uses smoked Gouda, which has a very smoky flavor almost like there was bacon in the dish. The smoked Gouda lends a hearty richness to the spinach and mushrooms. David actually thought there was bacon in it just by the smell. I had to change-up the recipe a little bit based on availability and I decided to add a little Gruyère. I had some leftover from making Adult Macaroni and Cheese when we cooked for David’s cousin a few weeks ago.
This mushroom spinach strata is a savory bread pudding made of cubed bread, eggs, cheese mushrooms and spinach made with Gouda and Gruyère cheeses. It is a perfect dish for Sunday brunch, but hearty enough for supper.
Here’s what I did:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Cut the bread into cubes and spread them out onto a large baking sheet; toast in the oven until dry and pale golden, 3 to 5 minutes.
While the bread is toasting, melt the butter in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft, another 5 to 7 minutes. Next, add the spinach to the mushroom-onion mixture. Toss in the spinach, cook until wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes.
At first, it may seem that there is a lot of spinach, but it will cook down to almost nothing. Keep tossing!
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the cheese and bread to the egg mixture; toss to combine. Transfer the onions, mushrooms and spinach to the bowl with the cheese, bread and egg mixture. Stir until all of the ingredients are distributed evenly. Pour into a small casserole dish and press down on the mixture to flatten it a bit.
Bake, covered, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, uncover; bake for an additional 5 minutes or until set in the center.
Let cool briefly, slice, and serve.
OH, YES!!
Mushroom and Spinach Strata With Smoked Gouda
Ingredients
- 4 ounce baguette (about a 9-inch piece), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¾ cup smoked Gouda cheese grated
- ¼ cup Gruyère cheese grated
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Cut the bread into cubes and spread them out onto a large baking sheet; toast in the oven until dry and pale golden, 3 to 5 minutes.
- While the bread is toasting, malt butter in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft, another 5 to 7 minutes. Next, add the spinach to the mushroom-onion mixture. Toss in the spinach, cook until wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the cheese and bread to the egg mixture; toss to combine. Transfer the onions, mushrooms and spinach to the bowl with the cheese, bread and egg mixture. Stir until all of the ingredients are distributed evenly. Pour into a small casserole dish and press down on the mixture to flatten it a bit.
- Bake, covered, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, uncover; bake for and additional 5 minutes or until set in the center.
- Let cool briefly, slice, and serve.
Nutrition
FromageHomage says
Looks delicious 🙂
debbeedoodles says
Thanks! It really was. The Smoked Gouda was so good!!
Cal says
Is the bread the unbaked type? I ask because I see “Take and Bake” on the bread label. Thanks for the recipe.
Debbie Spivey says
Hi Cal!
Please use any baked bread of your choice. I used this because it was (supposedly) fresh from the grocer. Sorry for the misleading photo. I hope you like the strata as much as we did! 🙂
Debbie