Mushroom Leek Strata

In my house, we often end up with a half loaf of stale fancy bread. Am I really supposed to eat a whole loaf of bread in one evening? I may want to, but that's not the point. At the same time, I'm often short on dinner ideas, and the next morning, running out the door without breakfast and hungry. 

So, I finally did something about it. 

The beauty of this recipe is that most of the ingredients last at least a week in my fridge so they may actually be good when I get around to cooking them. And the bread is supposed to be stale. That's the point. It aids in the absorption of the egg-y goodness. 

The first time I made this recipe, it was so good that I had to make it again because I wasn't sure it wasn't a fluke. It wasn't a fluke. It's really that good. You can have it for dinner, and then breakfast or lunch. And you'll still want it. And then you'll have to make more. 

Mushroom Leek Strata

Ingredients: 

2 cups multi-grain "artisan" bread

3 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp dijon mustard

2 cups chopped kale 

1 leek sliced and cleaned*

10 crimini mushrooms sliced

2 cloves garlic

3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 pinches rosemary salt**

2-4 oz english cheddar grated

2 heaping TBSP pecorino romano grated

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Oil a casserole dish, the wider the better for more crispy topping. 

Add cubed bread. 

Scramble eggs, milk & mustard and pour over bread to soak. 

Saute leeks in olive oil, about 5 minutes. Dish over bread. 

Saute mushrooms, garlic, thyme, and rosemary salt, about 5 more minutes. 

Dish over bread and toss. Top with cheeses. 

Bake for 25 minutes. 

This recipe is highly adjustable to what you have in the fridge. 

*I subbed a sliced yellow onion when I didn't have a leek and it was fantastic too.

** My mother-in-law made me a container of rosemary salt, but you can chop up a 1/2 tsp or so of fresh rosemary and it will be delightful too.