Lasagna Strata with Italian Sausage

Inspired by my love of lasagna and my love of strata, I came up with this Lasagna Strata. Layers of Italian bread, Italian sausage, grape tomatoes, and cheese come together nicely with, what else? Eggs!! Sounds weird, tastes great!

I had an idea to make this Lasagna Strata but wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Either it would be a giant disaster or it would be something unusual and tasty. Time would tell, and I was up for the challenge of discovery.

I browned, sliced, whisked and layered. Before long I was ready to bake, so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. As happens, the strata puffed nicely in the oven and deflated a little once removed and allowed to cool. It smelled amazing as it baked, so I was pretty pleased with how my experiment was turning out so far, but as we all know, the real test is in the taste.

I started the Lasagna Strata early in the morning because I knew it needed to sit in the refrigerator for several hours before baking so the bread could soak up all the eggs and flavors. By the time I stuck it in the oven, it was early afternoon. The baking took nearly 2 hours (to set the eggs) and by the time it was ready to come out of the oven I was completely famished and ready to eat. Not so fast. It wasn’t nearly dinner time so I allowed the strata to cool slightly, took it outside for photos (curses to the winter time change) and then popped it back in the fridge until it was time to reheat it for dinner. Yes, being a food blogger is a strange and wonderful thing. LOL

Once sufficiently cooled, but still hot enough to enjoy, the Lasagna Strata served up nicely. The cheese layer had pretty much melded into the egg and bread so the layers were pretty much undetectable, but you definitely could taste that they were in there.

I didn’t think the combination of tomato sauce and eggs would be very appetizing so that’s why I went with the grape tomatoes instead, and I’m glad I did. I think they look pretty all dotted on top of the strata and the layer of grape tomatoes on the bottom of the casserole dish provided an anti-stick surface once they baked and let off their liquid.

Lasagna Strata can be served as a breakfast or brunch (just make sure you assemble it the night before you plan on serving it), or you can serve it for a hearty dinner as I did. Of course, you can make it meat-free as well but for my family of carnivores, I had to add Italian sausage into the mix with something that had the name lasagna in the title 🙂

LASAGNA STRATA WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE   {PRINT THIS RECIPE}
Serves: 10-12      Prep Time:  15 minutes      Bake Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

2 pounds mild Italian sausage
3/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves, divided
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
2 pints grape (or cherry) tomatoes, halved and divided
8 – 16 slices Italian bread, 1/2″ thick, divided
1 cup ricotta
1 cup cottage cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
8-10 fresh basil leaves, torn and divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
12 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

-Brown the sausage in a large pot over medium/high heat. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon basil and 1/4 teaspoon oregano. Remove once browned and set aside.
-Place 1 pint of the sliced grape tomatoes into the bottom of a 3 quart casserole dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.
-Top the sliced tomatoes with 8 slices of the bread, arranging to fit the dish.
-In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta and cottage cheeses. Stir in the garlic.
-Spoon and spread half of the cheese mixture over the bread slices.
-Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese over the ricotta mixture and top with half of the torn basil leaves.
-Layer in half of the browned sausage and more sliced tomatoes.
-In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
-Pour half of the egg mixture over the sausage/bread layers and repeat with an additional layer of bread, ricotta, sausage and eggs.
-Top the strata with the remaining sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and Parmesan.
-Cover and and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight if you’re serving it for breakfast or brunch.
-Bring the strata to room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
-Sprinkle the top with additional dried basil and oregano.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Bake the strata uncovered for 1 hour 25 minutes, and then cover and continue baking for 40 additional minutes until the center is set.
-Cool about 20 minutes before serving.
-Serve hot.
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Brown the sausage along with dried oregano and dried basil. Set aside. Place half the tomatoes in the bottom of a 3 quart baking dish. Top with sliced Italian bread.

Mix together the ricotta and cottage cheese. Spread over the bread slices and top with half of the mozzarella cheese, half of the torn fresh basil leaves and the browned sausage.

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper and pour half evenly over the contents of the casserole dish. Repeat with an additional layer of bread, ricotta and cottage cheese, sausage and eggs. Top with additional mozzarella and Parmesan.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight). Bake the strata in a preheated oven for 1 hour 25 minutes and then cover and continue baking until the center is set. Allow the strata to cool for about 20 minutes and then spoon on plates and serve hot.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe as much as I’ve enjoyed bringing it to you. I’d like to take to quick moment to coordinate this recipe with a fun wine glass design that depicts the merriment of the season. Elf of the shelf, anyone?