Zucchini tomato strata

Italian zucchini tomato strata

Adapted from “Betty Crocker: The Smart Dinner” as printed in today's Variety section under the "Sunday Supper" spot. It's a good choice for this time of year, since you're likely to have these ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

6 cups 1-inch cubes of stale bread

1½ cups shredded cheese, divided (the recipe called for Italian, but I used what I had, which was a mix of Gouda, Parmesan and a savory-onion variety from the Wisconsin cheese guy at the market)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups chopped zucchini

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon salt, divided

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Method

If baking immediately, preheat oven to 325.

Grease an 9-by-13 pan. (I confess I forgot this step, but I somehow got by with it and it came out fine and didn't leave a mess in the pan.) Place bread cubes across the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese on top of bread.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook garlic until fragrant. Add onion and cook until just starting to soften. Add zucchini and tomatoes and cook about 3 minutes more. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt. Spread mixture over top of cheese layer in the pan.

Mix eggs, yolks, milk, Sriracha, oregano, basil, ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper. Pour over vegetable layer. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

At this point the strata can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Or bake immediately, uncovered, for 50 to 60 minutes until set, golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out cleanish. Let rest at least 5 minutes before serving. (If you're preparing it advance, I'd let the pan come up closer to room temperature before baking, and/or allow a longer baking time.)

Rating: Really rather tasty. I had only tried this recipe because I had a ready supply of tomatoes (finally!), some zucchini that was otherwise going to wind up as compost before too long, and a whole gob of bread cubes in the freezer, since this is the time of year it doesn’t last long on the counter before going bad and freezing bread cubes is my way of buying time. My expectations for some reason weren’t high, and this far exceeded them, once again proving the marvelous versatility of a strata as a tasty way to use up odds and ends. A perfectly nice summer-flavored meal that’s as hearty as any meat dish. Worth repeating anytime you're faced with the same ingredients.

As for servings, it makes either 6 really generous pieces or 8 more reasonable servings, so it sort of depends on what you're serving on the side.