Kathy's Ham Strata

Submitted by 2Bleu

"This is a quick and easy one-dish meal that comes from the recipe collection of Bird's sister Kathy. Stratta or strata is a brunch casserole dish, similar to a quiche, made from a mixture which mainly consists of bread or hash browns, eggs and cheese. It may also include meat or vegetables."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 12 slices white bread
• 1 cup cooked lean ham, diced
• 1 1⁄4 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 1⁄2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 8 ounces neufchatel cheese, softened or 8 ounces cream cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup 2% low-fat milk or 1 cup whole milk

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish and place half the bread into the dish, overlapping if necessary.
2. Layer with ham, broccoli, then 1 cup of the cheddar cheese. Place remaining bread slices over top.
3. In a bowl, mix well the cream cheese, eggs, and milk. pour over strada and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Reviews

[Margie99]

I really liked the flavors of this. I must admit I forgot to put the top layer of bread, so it was more like an open faced sandwich. I had trouble getting the cream cheese mixed with the eggs and I was in a hurry to get dinner going so I just left it lumpy and it still turned out great. I also cooked the broccoli a bit first caus I wanted to make sure they were cooked well.

 

[KateL]

4 Stars, a tasty budget dish -- a different way to serve sandwiches. Most people would want to increase the number of ingredients, but the recipe as written stretches out the ingredients to their maximum. I lined up my pieces of bread, so it looked to me like 6 sandwiches in the 9x13 pan. Serve these with soup, and you have a gussied up "soup and sandwich". Of all the ingredients, I would try to do without the cream cheese, but then I wouldn't have much of the strata effect. Personally I would use a lot of shredded Swiss cheese to replace the cheddar and cream cheese, and I would then also use rye bread -- cuz I am a "ham n' Swiss on rye" kind of gal. Overall I enjoyed this, especially the broccoli and ham, and it was very quick and easy to put together. Remade and photographed this 12.14.08 substituting rye bread, asparagus, and Swiss cheese, eliminating the cream cheese, and adding accents of fire-roasted red bell pepper for contrast - heavenly! Thanks for posting, 2Bleu. Made for Please Review My Recipe.