Holiday Breakfast Casserole with Cabot Alpine Cheddar

• Vegetarian

• Produce

  • 2 Shallots, large
  • 1 15 oz. bag Spinach, frozen

• Refrigerated

  • 12 Eggs

• Baking & Spices

  • 1 Sea salt

• Bread & Baked Goods

  • 12 oz Baguette

• Dairy

  • 9 1/2 tbsp Butter
  • 12 oz Cabot alpine cheddar
  • 3 cup Half and half

• Beer, Wine & Liquor

  • 1 cup White wine, medium dry

Found on thatsusanwilliams.com

Description

Ingredients

• 12-14 oz. baguette (I used one of the long baguettes from my Costco bakery), sliced into 1/2 thick slices
• 15 oz. bag of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, and with water squeezed out (I used paper towels to help me squeeze out the water)
• 9 and 1/2 T. butter
• 2 large shallots, minced, (you need about 1 c. of minced shallots - mine were really large)
• sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup medium-dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
• 12 oz. Cabot Alpine Cheddar (you could use Gruyère, or white cheddar, or havarti - whatever you like)
• 12 eggs
• 3 c. half and half

Directions

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 225 degrees. Arrange bread in single layer on large baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp, about 40 minutes, turning slices over halfway through drying time. (Alternatively, leave slices out overnight to dry.) When cooled, butter slices on one side with 4 tablespoons butter; set aside. Heat 4 tablespoons butter in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sauté shallots until fragrant and translucent, about 3 minutes; add spinach and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach and shallots are combined, about 2 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl; set aside. Add wine to skillet, increase heat to medium-high, and simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup, 2 to 3 minutes; set aside. Butter 9 x 13 baking dish with 1 and 1/2 T. butter; arrange half the buttered bread slices, buttered-side up, in single layer in dish. Sprinkle half of spinach mixture, then half of grated cheese evenly over bread slices. Arrange remaining bread slices in single layer over cheese; sprinkle remaining spinach mixture and remaining 1/2 of cheese evenly over bread. Whisk eggs in medium bowl until combined; whisk in reduced wine, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread layers; cover surface flush with plastic wrap, weigh down (see note, below), and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to overnight. I refrigerated mine overnight. Remove dish from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Uncover strata and bake until both edges and center are puffed and edges have pulled away slightly from sides of dish, 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes; serve.