Mediterranean Strata Quiche

Irmgard's Note:

This dish from Chatelaine magazine's website is a combination of two brunch favourites: strata and quiche. This smaller sized version is ideal for a light dinner served with salad. You may add green olives to the dish if you like, but I didn't have any on hand so made it without. It didn't seem to affect the outcome one bit.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 red onion , cut in half and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• ½ sweet red pepper , thinly sliced, then cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups Italian bread , day-old and cut in 1/2-inch cubes
• ¾ cup feta cheese , crumbled
• 5 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat a deep 10" pie plate with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan set over medium heat.
4. Add the onion and garlic.
5. Stir often for 5 minutes.
6. Increase the heat to high and stir frequently until the onion is golden, from 3 to 5 more minutes.
7. Add the pepper and stir for 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Remove from the heat.
9. Measure out the bread cubes into a bowl.
10. Stir in the warm onion mixture along with the feta.
11. Turn the mixture into the pie plate and pat down.
12. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, oregano and pepper.
13. Pour evenly over the bread mixture.
14. Bake in the centre of the oven until a knife inserted in the centre of the quiche comes out fairly clean and the bread around the edges is brown and crispy, from 35 to 40 minutes.
15. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.