Strata with prosciutto, rosemary and sun-dried tomatoes

Strata recipes are a great way to use up stale bread and all those ends of loaves that would otherwise wind up green and fuzzy. So in theory, they're frugal. Even though they use a lot of eggs, and egg prices have become more carefully monitored than the stock market in some quarters, eggs are still comparatively cheap protein given the price of a lot of animal sources of protein, at least in our community. So, still frugal-ish. 

But then practically every recipe I run into loads up the strata with some of the most expensive ingredients: truffles, imported Italian cured meats and cheeses, etc. My longtime go-to strata recipe for brunch guests is a case in point: Goat cheese, artichoke and ham strata from Bon Appetit in 1997 is packed with expensive cheese and other goodies. It is also intensely tasty.

I googled cheap strata, and aside from a bunch of guitar pictures (that would be strata, various), I got some AI hallucination that thinks mushrooms and sausage are cheap. Again, regional price differences might account for that apparent puzzling disconnect. (Also, I'm going to ignore the fact that technically strata is already a plural noun in other use cases and avoid that rabbit hole of stratas.)

This recipe definitely falls into the price (and calorie) stuffed category, but I made it anyway.

Fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomato and prosciutto strata

Adapted from Cooking Light, June 2005. To make it lighter, opt for fat-free milk.

Note: The amount of bread cubes and dairy might seem like more than you'd think would fit in the baking dish, or at least I worried it would be, but the bread shrinks down a lot when it soaks up all that dairy.

Ingredients

1 pound focaccia, cut into 3/4-inch cubes, about 15 cups
3¼ cups milk
¼ cup crème fraiche or sour cream
8 ounces egg substitute (or 4 large eggs plus one egg yolk is a close approximation)
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
4 ounces prosciutto, chopped
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into narrow strips
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread bread cubes on a large baking sheet in a single layer and toast for 10 minutes.

Combine milk, crème fraiche, eggs and garlic in a large bowl. Stir in toasted bread and let stand for 5 minutes.

Grease a 9-by-13 pan. Place half of bread mixture in the bottom of the pan. Top with prosciutto, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary. Top with remaining bread cubes. Cover and chill 8 hours or up to overnight. 

Uncover and bake in 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese and return to oven to bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before cutting and serving Serves 8.

Rating: Really pleasant rosemary flavor, which complements the prosciutto and Parmesan nicely.  Fast to assemble compared with some more elaborate strata recipes. Worth making now and again as a splurge. And like all strata dishes, having something prepared you can whip out of the refrigerator for brunch or dinner is priceless at that moment. Plus, lots of leftovers that reheat just fine in the oven. 

I'm thinking the next time I have a pile of bread cubes lurking in my freezer I'll have to try a strata with some of the frozen roasted farmers market vegetables I stash each summer. Layer in some feta and mozzarella and it might still qualify as frugal-ish.