This delicious Breakfast Casserole, packed with eggs, bacon, milk and Comté cheese, is perfect for a special breakfast or brunch. An excellent make-ahead recipe that’s delicious hot or cold.
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In collaboration with Comté Cheese.
BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
A “strata” is a type of casserole made with eggs, cheese and bread. This thrifty casserole is a great way to use up leftover bread, ham, sausages or vegetables.
It’s sort of a savoury bread and butter pudding / French toast / crustless quiche – creamy and fluffy inside with a golden crunchy crust.
Another great thing about this recipe is that you can prepare it the night before and bake it in the morning to serve for brunch. Overnight Breakfast Casserole? Yes please! 🙂
I used slightly stale bread, eggs, milk, bacon, butter and Comté cheese in my breakfast casserole, and let me tell you it tastes simply A-MA-ZING! Let’s break down what you will need to make it.
Comté Cheese
Cheese lovers will of course be familiar with Comté. This delicious French cheese is creamy, nutty and altogether DELICIOUS! It deserves a place on your cheese platter but is also versatile enough to be used in cooking (check out my breakfast frittata recipe).
Comté cheese hails from the Eastern France region of the Jura Massif. Having been granted AOC status, it can only be called Comté if it’s made in the Jura according to a set of regulations.
Comté cheese is produced year-round and its taste depends on the terroir –each wheel of Comté is unique and can contain over 80 flavours and aromas!
The cheese is aged for a minimum of four months but frequently much longer. As Comté ages, the flavours intensify – truly a cheese to savour!
Young Comté is available in most UK supermarkets and older varieties are stocked inWaitrose and at all good cheesemongers.
Remaining Strata Ingredients
Eggs – I used seven large eggs in this recipe. Egg sizes vary from country to country so you might need to adjust the amount to suit.
Milk – whole milk will give you a better taste or you can even use half milk and half cream.
Bread – you can use whatever bread you have in this breakfast casserole. I used cubed sourdough bread in this version of the recipe (slice the crust off if it is particularly hard) but you can also use this no knead bread, a baguette etc.
Bacon – I used cubed Pancetta with a slightly sweet/salty flavour pairs so well with the cheese. You can use any type of bacon you prefer.
Which pan should I use?
You can bake this breakfast casserole in a ceramic or glass dish or in a cake tin as I have done here. Make sure to grease your chosen dish liberally with butter.
You can use a springform cake tin as long as it allows for a tight seal. Whenever I tried with mine they tended to leak so make sure you place a tray underneath just in case!
How to make a Breakfast Strata
Slice your bread into even cubes. Cook the bacon until slightly crispy and transfer to a bowl to cool slightly.
Add the eggs, milk, melted butter, salt, garlic and mustard powder in a large bowl and mix together using a balloon whisk.
Stir in the grated cheese and cooked bacon.
Add the bread, stirring a few times so that it starts to absorb the eggs/milk. Cover and chill overnight or for a couple of hours at least.
Preheat the oven to 180C /350F. Transfer the bread to a greased and lined 20cm/8 inch cake tin and pack down. Mix the egg and milk (for the topping) and pour over the strata.
Dot with butter and add some extra grated cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until golden and crunchy at the top.
Cool in the tin for five minutes then run the blade of a knife around the edge of the cake tin to loosen the strata. Carefully turn out of the tin onto a platter. Slice and serve warm with a little Hollandaise sauce for the ultimate breakfast /brunch/ lunch/ snack!
STORING AND FREEZING
In the unlikely even you have any leftovers , this casserole will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Alternatively slice, wrap well and freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 180C/350F.
VARIATIONS
- VEGETARIAN BREAKFAST CASSEROLE: leave out the bacon and replace with sautéd mushrooms.
- KETO BREAKFAST CASSEROLE: I know it sounds unlikely (all those carbs!) but you CAN make a Keto version if you replace the bread with my Keto bread!
- KITCHEN SINK BREAKFAST CASSEROLE: add whatever leftovers you have such as roasted vegetables, sausages, turkey etc making sure to cut them fairly small.
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Breakfast Casserole (Breakfast Strata)
Ingredients
- 320 g (1 ⅓ cups) cubed pancetta
- 6 large eggs
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) whole milk
- 2 tbsp melted butter plus extra to grease the tin/pan
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 350 g (1 ½ cups) grated Comté cheese
- 450 g (approx. 6 cups) white bread cubed
To top
- 1 large egg
- 60 ml (¼ cup) whole milk
- 1 tbsp butter , cubed
- A little extra grated cheese
- Chopped chives to garnish
Instructions
- Slice your bread into even small cubes. I used a slightly stale sourdough loaf – if the crust is really hard then remove it.
- Cook the bacon until slightly crispy and transfer to a bowl to cool slightly.
- Add the eggs, milk, melted butter, chopped parsley salt, garlic and mustard powder in a large bowl and mix together using a balloon whisk.
- Stir in the grated cheese and bacon.
- Add the bread, stirring a few times so that it starts to absorb the eggs/milk. Cover and chill overnight or for a couple of hours at least (you can transfer to your cake tin or oven dish now if you wish so it's ready to bake in the morning).
- Preheat the oven to 180C /350F. Transfer to a greased and lined 20cm/8 inch cake tin and pack down. If you are using a springform cake tin, place on a roasting tray in case it leaks!
- Mix the egg and milk and pour over the strata. Dot with butter and add some extra grated cheese on top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until golden and crunchy at the top.
- Cool in the tin for five minutes then run the blade of a knife around the edge of the cake tin to loosen the strata. Carefully turn out of the tin onto a platter.
- Serve warm with a little Hollandaise sauce for the ultimate breakfast /brunch/ lunch/ snack!
Video
Notes
Nutritional Info
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Martin Prendergast says
Worked out much better than expected. Delicious. give it a go.