Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1/2 loaf supermarket French or Italian bread (8 ounces) sliced 1/2 inch thick
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the dish
4 shallots, minced
1 (10-ounce) package chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
salt and Pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
6 large eggs
1 3/4 cups half-and-half
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Directions: |
Directions:Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 225 degrees. Spread the bread over a large baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp on both sides, about 20 minutes per side. Spread 2 Tablespoons of the butter over one side of the dried bread slices.
Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the spinach, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper and cook until the spinach is heated through, about 2 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a medium bowl. Add the wine to the skillet and simmer over medium-high heat until it measures 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes; set aside to cool.
Grease an 8-inch square baking dish with butter. Arrange half of the bread, buttered-side up, in a single layer in the dish and sprinkle with half of the spinach mixture and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Repeat to form a second layer with the remaining bread, spinach and another 1/2 cup of the cheese. Whisk together the eggs, reduced wine, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth, then pour evenly over the top. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and weigh the strata down with 2 pounds of sugar. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Meanwhile, allow the strata to stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. remove the weights, uncover the strata and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere. Bake until both the edges and the center are puffed and the edges have pulled away slightly from the sides of the dish, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes before serving. |
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