No joke. The grocery prices are in the stratosphere. So I went shopping in my deep freezer for lunch again. I adapted this recipe from the book, “A New Way to Bake” by Martha Stewart. I didn’t have a loaf of artisan bread but I did have 10 ounces of croutons I made from quick sale everything bagels. I found a pound of home style sausage in the deep freeze and a hunk of manchego cheese I bought in June 2020. It is still wonderful. I added 2 teaspoons of rubbed sage to the sausage as I browned it. I do love sage sausage. The onions and the greens are the first harvest from my garden. Yes!!! Eggs are from my hens. The yolks are so orange. I thought about adding mushrooms but didn’t. Maybe next time. You can use ham instead of sausage. Then skip the browning process. Make this strata your own!

• 1 pound Sausage
• 2 tsps Rubbed Sage (optional)
• 3 Shallots or small Onions Sliced
• 1 pound assorted Greens, stems chopped, leaves chiffionade
• Salt and Pepper to your taste
• 10 ozs Crusty Bread or large croutons
• 2 ½ cups Milk
• 7 large Eggs, beaten
• 3 ozs (1 cup) Cheese of your choice, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Select a 13 X 9 baking dish.

In a heavy skillet (I use cast iron) brown the sausage over medium heat. Season with sage, salt and pepper. Cook time will vary from 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove sausage from skillet and place into the baking dish. Add onions and stems to the skillet. Cook until the onions are translucent about 3 minutes. Add the greens to the skillet and allow them to wilt, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes. Add a small amount of water and scrape the bottom of skillet. Stir and season to taste. Place the onion mixture into the baking dish and mix with the sausage.  Spread this mixture out and top with the croutons or bread.  

In a large bowl mix beaten eggs and milk. Pour evenly across the top of croutons or bread. Top with grated cheese. Cover and chill in fridge for 10 minutes to allow the bread to absorb some milk. At this point it can be refrigerated overnight to bake for a breakfast meal. Just allow the dish to come to room temp before you put it in the hot oven.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, checking to make sure the strata is set in the middle.