Caprese Stratas w/Basil, Tomato & Mozzarella
Jan 23rd, 2010 by Ace
This recipe was passed along to me by my sweetie Dragonia. It’s definitely not the sort of thing Jack and I usually eat around the House of Cards, but I was intrigued by the use of nutmeg in conjunction with bruschetta-like ingredients, and it made for a nice change-up. Depending on your own culinary history, you might find it evocative of quiche, or a sort of savory French toast, or traditional Swiss fondue, or all of the above.
- 8 eggs beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 5 ounces mozzarella cheese cut into one inch cubes
- 16 cherry tomatoes
- 32 fresh basil leaves
- 8 croissants, each torn in 4 equal pieces
- sea salt flakes and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the eggs with the milk, and season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Distribute the croissants between 6 or 8 ramekins or oven-proof bowls. Do likewise with the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil leaves.
Pour the egg mixture evenly into each ramekin.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.
For the version pictured above, I grated the nutmeg myself, used 8 ounces of cheese instead of 5 (because I had a pound of it, and it was easier to cut the sphere in half) and added 20 grape tomatoes instead of 16 cherry ones (I’m not supposed to have tomatoes anyway.) I also cut the basil into strips with a pair of scissors rather than leaving it as whole leaves. And I baked it in a casserole dish, because I don’t own any ramekins or oven-safe bowls. I would be interested to try it in a smaller dish, to see whether or not it makes it crunchier. And maybe to swap out the mozzarella and replace it with Emmenthaler. Or Gruyere…
Dragonia wants to try it with low-carb bread and extra cheese.
Looks delicious. Looks like a good brunch meal.
You’re absolutely right! I never think of “brunch” as a designation, because mealtimes are always so borked at my house on the weekends, but it’s totally the sort of meal that my sister-in-law Bella would whip out and serve up after everyone got back from church on Sunday… I added “brunch” as a category.
Also, in the interest of completeness: I did stick to the 25 minute baking time designated by the recipe. If you web search the term “caprese stratas”, it’s usually described as a sort of bread pudding, and this preparation of it had that consistency. Apparently it’s not intended to be crunchy.
I made a variation of this last night. Here’s what I did differently:
-I used some stale sesame wheat bread and cut it up into cubes
-I cut up two yellow tomatoes (the bread and the tomatoes were from the farmer’s market)
-I used ciliegine mozzarella– melted nicely
-I only had 6 eggs, so I used them up
-I omitted the milk and nutmeg
-I sauteed some diced onion and added it to the mix
I also shredded the basil, then put the mixture into 2 small casserole dishes and baked them for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
The result was delicious, and yes, it’s supposed to be more like a savory bread pudding. The crust from the bread that ended up on the edges was a little crispy (yum), and everything else combined to form a cheesy strata.
What I would do differently next time:
-Save the basil until near the end of the baking time, then sprinkle it so that it just wilts.
-Saute garlic instead of onion
-Let the bread soak in the egg mixture overnight.