Greek Strata Frittata

A strata is a breakfast casserole type dish that involves layering the ingredients and pouring an egg and milk mixture over and letting sit overnight before baking.  A frittata is more like an open faced omelet with some extra hearty fillings thrown in. This dish is somewhere in between.

I had my sister, BIL and Chipmunk over for a "Las Vegas Christmas Eve" breakfast...yep, that's what we called it.  We are all flying back to Denver this week for Christmas with the family but transporting gifts back there to open and then carry back to Las Vegas was obviously a bit ridiculous so we planned a brekkie and opened some gifts a bit early. 

Most traditional stratas have 2-3 times the amount of bread crumbs but  I liked the reduced amount of breads that left this in limbo between a strata and frittata.  Less bread also meant more room to consume the most important breakfast carb of all--hashbrowns.

Greek Strata

drizzle of olive oil

1/2 large onion, diced

1 lb fresh spinach, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 cups cubed day old bread

1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

1/4 cup feta, crubmbled

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

4 large eggs

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup ricotta

1/2 cup milk

3 tbsp olive tapenade

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 cup shredded mozarella

1. In a large pan, sautee diced onion in olive oil over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes

2. Add garlic and stir, cook for 1 minute

3. Add chopped spinach and cook until spinach has reduced substantially and lost most of its water.  Add oregano, stir and set aside to cool slightly.

4.  Cover bottom of buttered casserole with bread cubes. (I used an 8x10 dish)

5. Sprinkle chopped sundried tomatoes and crumbled feta over bread.

6. Add spinach to casserole dish, spreading evenly.  Sprinkle roasted red peppers on top.

7. Beat eggs in medium bowl.  Add cottage cheese, ricotta, milk, tapenade, salt and pepper and beat well. Pour over casserole and top with cheese

8. Remove strata from fridge 30 minutes prior to baking.  Preheat oven to 325.

9.  Bake strata for 40-45 minutes or until filling is set.  Remove from oven and serve hot.