Green Strata With Goat Cheese and Herbs
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus at least 4 hours’ chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 2cups whole milk
- ½cup heavy cream
- 5ounces baby braising greens, such as kale, mustard greens, chard or a mix (about 5 cups)
- ¾cup mixed soft herbs, such as parsley, cilantro, dill, mint or chives
- ¼cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
- Black pepper, as needed
- 12large eggs
- 1pound day-old brioche or white bread, cut into 2-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
- 6ounces cold goat cheese, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
- Aleppo or Turkish pepper, for serving (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
439 calories; 23 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 640 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium pot, bring milk and cream to a simmer.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, place greens, herbs, cheese, salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Once the hot milk mixture comes to a simmer, pour over greens and purée until smooth. Pour into a bowl and let cool completely. Once cool, whisk in 6 eggs.
- Step 3
Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Scatter bread cubes over bottom of pan. Pour custard over bread and press down so the bread absorbs the custard. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. If you can, stir bread cubes after an hour or so to encourage an even distribution of custard.
- Step 4
When you are ready to bake the strata, heat oven to 350 degrees. Tuck the goat cheese rounds into and on top of the strata. Transfer pan to oven and bake until top is beginning to firm up but is still slightly wet underneath, about 25 minutes.
- Step 5
Remove pan from oven and use a spoon to make 6 evenly spaced indentations on the surface of the strata. Crack an egg into each hole and season with salt and pepper. Return pan to oven and continue to bake until strata is cooked through and eggs are just set, 20 to 25 minutes more. Sprinkle with Aleppo or Turkish pepper if desired.
- This rich, custardy dish needs an incisive wine to cut through its eggy, creamy amplitude. Sauvignon blanc, the historical regional partner for goat cheese in all its forms, comes immediately to mind. I don’t believe that regional pairings are automatically good, but this one is tried and true over generations. Racy, refreshing, herbal Loire sauvignon blancs will work beautifully, from Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé or their less-expensive satellite regions, like Quincy, Menetou-Salon and Reuilly. And sauvignon blanc is truly an international grape, grown on every continent that makes wine. It can be excellent from northeastern Italy, and New Zealand made its reputation with pungent, zesty versions. California’s sauvignon blancs can be very good, though often a little richer, and don’t write off bottles from South Africa and South America. ERIC ASIMOV
Private Notes
Comments
The steps as written made no sense to me. I cooked down the greens in a little water, then blitzed them with the herbs and one cup of milk. Then whisked in the eggs and the rest of the milk, cream, and cheese. Threw in the bread and let it all soak in the fridge for a couple of hours, mixing occasionally. Pressed it into a pan, covered with plastic wrap, and weighted with some cans. Came out great, not bready or lumpy. The pressing technique I learned from America's Test Kitchen.
What a mess. I put the greens and hot milk into my Cuisinart 11 cup food processor and hit the pulse button. Hot milk and green bits down the side and onto the counter. I've transferred it all over into my blender but meanwhile my kitchen is a disaster with milk and green bits everywhere, not to mention that it wasn't a joy playing around in hot milk.
Use a blender.
Looks like green baby food. Why puree at all? poach veggies as needed in milk/cream, drain, chop/scissor roughly, lay over bread base. Proceed with rest of Step 2..
I suggest not using sourdough, French bread would be better. Salsa or other sauce would be helpful.
Not sure why so many people are having trouble with the pureeing step. It seems like an equipment problem rather than a recipe problem. I've made this multiple times over the past five years in my Vitamix and it has always gone smoothly. Thanks to the Vitamix, I don't even need to shred the Parmesan first. After the first step, I put the blender container in the fridge to cool, then add the eggs and blend again. No need to dirty a bowl and whisk. It also allows me to easily pour over the bread.
I did not do too well with this. First I failed to digest the word “baby” so my greens (kale) were adult and probably too strong. I had a mild version of the food processor mess but that was not a big deal. The goat cheese did not melt and seep into the strata in a nice gloppy way as I had anticipated. Second, the eggs looked too raw in their wells so I kept cooking— I overcooked. The result was dry, did not taste very good, and seemed like it needed more fat or cheese or both. My company was polite but last year’s strata was fondly recalled. I love veggies and greens but I did not love the color. If I had to do it again I would use spinach as was suggested and I would have used I think ricotta as was suggested and maybe thrown some butter or more heavy cream in there to make it more rich and moist.
Advertisement