Home » Recipe Type » Dinner » Weeknight Dinners » Summer Vegetable Strata | CSA Week 3
4.5 from 2 reviews
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I don’t think there is a gadget in my kitchen that gives me more pleasure than the shredder attachment of my food processor. Last night, in an effort to clean out the vegetable bin, I pulled out my favorite tool and began sending my bounty down the shoot. In seconds, one zucchini, one summer squash, a head of broccoli (stem and all), and a block of cheddar cheese disintegrated into perfect little wisps.
Into a bowl filled with eggs, milk and bread went the vegetables and cheese along with some chopped parsley, cilantro and garlic scapes. I was making a strata, a dish whose merits, I’m discovering, are endless: no-fuss, feeds a crowd, well-suited for any number of vegetables. A little bit of meat — sausage, bacon, ham, pancetta — and a splash of Tabasco transforms this strata into the perfect brunch casserole. Use a loaf of homemade bread and feel virtuous.
Have a wonderful weekend, Everyone.
PS: Another great use for that shredder attachment.
CSA week 3: beets, lettuce, tatsoi, cone cabbage, mustard greens, scallions, parsley, cilantro, garlic scapes, snow peas, broccoli, zucchini:
Lettuce, tatsoi and mustard greens: we have been eating all of these with that crème fraîche salad dressing — delicious with toasted breadcrumbs and shaved parmesan.
Cone cabbage: I’ve had my eye on this cabbage vegetable pad thai recipe for a few weeks. A number of vegetables (scallions, zucchini, garlic scapes, tatsoi, snow peas) from this week’s share could work well here. This braised cabbage with anchovies and garlic is better suited for colder days, but it was about my favorite thing to eat this winter.
Beets: This salad is an old favorite, though I’d just as soon boil the beets till tender than salt roast them — less fussy and just as delicious.
The base: 10 eggs, 2 1/2 cups milk and 1 loaf of two-day-old peasant bread (made with some whole wheat flour) cubed up:
The shredder attachment makes for very fast prep work: squash, zucchini, broccoli and cheddar cheese grated in a flash.
Use any herbs you have on hand:
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4.5 from 2 reviews
- Author: Alexandra
- Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 to 10
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Description
Bread: I used 1 loaf of two-day old peasant bread, crust and all. It was stale but still soft, and I didn’t take any further steps to dry it out (toast in oven, slice and dry out over night, etc). It weighed just under 13 oz. If you are using an artisan bread with a thick crust, I suggest removing it. Ingredients: Use whatever you have no hand. Everything I used here (with the exception of the herbs and garlic scapes) got shredded in the food processor with the shredder attachment. I used one 8-oz block of Cabot cheddar cheese, which I halved lengthwise and sent down the shredder shoot as well. Some sort of breakfast meat — sausage, bacon, ham, pancetta — would be an excellent addition here.
Ingredients
- 10 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk (2% would probably be fine, too)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 zucchini
- 1 summer squash
- 1 very small head broccoli
- 8 oz. cheddar or gruyère
- 13 oz. bread (see notes above)
- herbs (parsley, basil, cilantro)
- garlic scapes (if you have them)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk and salt together. Set aside.
- Using the shredder attachment of the food processor, slice up the zucchini, squash, and broccoli. Send any cheese in block form down the shoot as well.
- Cut the bread into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to the bowl of eggs. Add the vegetables to the bowl as well. Finely chop the garlic scapes and herbs. Add to the bowl and toss everything together.
- Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Pour egg mixture into pan. Cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 40 to 50 minutes longer. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Bread Recipes Vegetables Vegetarian Summer Zucchini Weeknight Dinners Herbs
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Lisa —Reply
Couldn’t agree more re: the food processor! It’s the greatest! I just used it yesterday to make a quick pie crust (using those dollar a flat blackberries I told you about!).
This looks amazing. Cousins of ours just had a baby and I promised to bring them brunch. I think this would be perfect. xoalexandra —Reply
Love making pie crust in the food processor! Congratulations on getting married!! so so exciting.
kathleen mary —Reply
Looks wonderful…will try it with your gf bread recipe & report back. Your blog (& website) continue to be a bright spot every day here in Maine.
p.s. we share the same Stieff sterling shell pattern.alexandra —Reply
You are too kind. Thank you, Kathleen. Would love to hear how it turns out with g-f bread. Love the shell pattern — it’s what my mama has, too 🙂
Marilyn —Reply
This looks amazing! I cook food in batches for my 83 year old mother to store in the freezer and take out portions for lunches, dinner, etc. Does this freeze well? I would love to make this for her and freeze! I love your site and recipes! There is always something wonderful to look forward to try and enjoy!
alexandra —Reply
I haven’t tried freezing this yet, but I think this will freeze well — it reheats nicely from the fridge (I reheat squares on a small sheetpan at 350ºF for 10 min or so) so I suspect it will do well from the freezer, too. How nice of you to cook for your mother! And thank you for your kind words. Means a lot.
Kelly —Reply
This strata looks delicious- perfect for a summer brunch. Thanks!
Rebecca —Reply
Alexandra, this series is making my life right now 🙂 This is my second year participating in a CSA and while “Chez Panisse Vegetables” saved me last year from the “what do I do with this?”, there’s only so many recipes! Thank you so much for this series.
P.S. Do you have any favorite organized-by-vegetable cookbooks?alexandra —Reply
Yay! So happy to hear this, Rebecca! The other cookbook I use this time of year is Deborah Madison’s The New Vegetarian Cookbook for Everyone. I have a few other farmers’ market cookbooks, but Chez Panisse Vegetables and this one are the ones I constantly turn to. I do love Ottolenghi’s Plenty and Plenty More, and I love Canal House Cooks Every Day. I have been dying to get a few Nigel Slater books, too. If I hear of any other must-haves, I will report back! I have been dying to get Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy, too.
Amy —Reply
Hi Ali – It was so much fun meeting you and Tig today – really does make me believe that some things DO happen for a reason….and not just because I was a bit forgetful!
Now that I’ve had a chance to check out your blog, I’m even more excited – Your recipes look wonderful.
I will let you know how it goes with the cards…and I will look forward to your posts – if the smell from the bread rising in your kitchen is any indication, that book is going to be amazing!alexandra —Reply
Amy! It was so wonderful meeting you. Thank you for your kind words…means so much…and thank you for taking the cards! Would be so cool to get them into some local spots. Enjoy your summer! Hope to stay in touch.
Liz @ Floating Kitchen —Reply
Oh this is lovely! I have friends coming to town this weekend I’ve been debating what kinds of breakfast/brunch foods to serve. And I think you’ve hit the nail on the head! Oh and my shredder is great, but my favorite tool might be the melon baller – it’s so weirdly satisfying to ball things. Ha!
debby —Reply
A few questions:
first, i’m sort of assuming you don’t precook the vegetables, correct? But if you have meat, you would precook that, right? How much precooking? Completely done? Would you make a recommendation as to how much meat in general?
then, i’m sort of assuming you mean fresh herbs, right? Would you say dry herbs would be too strong? Also, if you don’t have garlic scapes, do you think regular chopped/minced garlic would be ok?
finally, I was reading about the bread pudding on your site – do you think cream would make this richer too in a good way?
i’m planning on making this over the weekend, and then freezing it for mother’s day. I’ve made it before with happy results, but not in a long time, and i’m always more anxious when cooking for others/events. Thanks!alexandra —Reply
Hi Debby, Sorry for the delay here! The vegetables here don’t need to be pre-cooked, but you certainly could. Which vegetables are you thinking about using? I think for better flavor (and if you have the time), you could roast cubed vegetables for 15 minutes or so at 425. Definitely pre-cook meat: sausage/diced bacon can be sautéed until brown — it doesn’t have to be completely cooked through. I would say 4 ounces of meat would add nice flavor without dominating the vegetables. Yes re fresh herbs. Dried, when used in large amounts, can be overpowering. Yes re chopped minced garlic.
Heavy cream would be delicious in the bread pudding! And more delicious is removing the egg whites so that all you use is yolks and cream — so custardy and good.
debby —Reply
I ended up using the vegetables in the recipe, since I had to buy them anyway as our CSA hasn’t started – I didn’t precook them, but ran them through the food processor pretty thoroughly – probably too much, but I don’t have a shredder attachment. It was a little watery, but once I cooked it, that seemed to have resolved. Thanks for all your answers – this was fairly simple and fast to make, without a ton of cleanup, so I can already envision doing it again for other events when we have a lot of people. I really wanted to make the croissants on your website too, but I restrained myself this time…there’s always next time!
alexandra —Reply
There’s always next time!! Glad this was simple and fast… that’s what I go for these days 🙂
Laura Burns —Reply
I have loved stratas – and have way too much zucchini in the bin! I tried this with OAT milk and vegan cheese, pre-sauteed the zucchini in case the milk didn’t act right, along with 10 eggs, and sad to say, it was inedible. In case anyone was thinking of trying that.
Actually, the raccoons polished it off, but it was not to my taste.alexandra —Reply
Bummer Laura! Hate when experiments don’t work out 🙁 🙁 🙁
Joyce Dedalus —Reply
Thanks for this recipe! How do you recommend testing that it’s done?
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Hi! If you press lightly on the top with your finger it should be slightly springy — in other words, not wet or jiggly at all.
Mimi —Reply
Different from the strata formula in your book ( 1 egg per 1/2 cup milk), maybe because the vegetables are pre-cooked in the book recipe? I followed the base formula from the book, using leftover cheese bread and steamed broccoli from Thanksgiving dinner, and adding some sauteed onion, bell peppers and a few diced slices of Canadian bacon. It made a lovely anniversary brunch dish, that didn’t taste at all like a vehicle to use up leftovers.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
So nice to read this, Mimi 🙂 🙂 🙂 Yes, the formula is slightly eggier here. So nice to hear you enjoyed it. Happy Anniversary!
Jane Carraway —Reply
I made this for supper tonight — so good! I roasted the veggies (onion, bell pepper, broccoli) following the directions for the strata in your book, but otherwise followed these directions. I will definitely make this again!
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Jane! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this 🙂 🙂 🙂
