Bread Strata with Vegetables & Ham

📝 Ingredients

• 250 g stale country bread (or fresh, dried in the oven)
• 6 eggs
• 400 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 160 g cooked ham (4 slices)
• 100 g grated Emmental (70 for the inside, 30 for the top)
• 1 courgette (about 250 g)
• 1 red pepper (about 180 g)
• 1 brown onion (about 100 g)
• 3 tsp olive oil (2 for the pan, 1 for the dish)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp herbes de Provence
• Salt, black pepper, 1 pinch of nutmeg

🍴 Utensils

• Large mixing bowl
• Frying pan
• Baking dish (20 × 30 cm)
• Whisk
• Knife and chopping board

📖 Steps

1. Cut the bread into 2 to 3 cm cubes, crust included, and put them in a large bowl. If the bread is fresh, first spread the cubes on a baking tray and dry them for 10 min in the oven at 160 °C: once dry, they soak up the egg mixture without turning to mush.
2. Wash the courgette and the pepper. Cut the courgette into 1 cm dice, deseed the pepper and cut it into dice of the same size, then finely slice the onion. Cut the ham slices into squares of about 2 cm.
3. Heat 2 tsp oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the onion for 3 min, add the pepper and cook for 4 min, then the courgette and cook for another 4 min, until the vegetables are tender and their liquid has evaporated. Add the herbes de Provence, season with pepper and leave to cool slightly.
4. Grease a baking dish of about 20 × 30 cm with the last tsp of oil. Take the bread out of the bowl and build two successive layers in the dish: bread, vegetables, ham, then 35 g Emmental. Keep the remaining 30 g Emmental for the top.
5. In the empty bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, mustard, nutmeg, a small pinch of salt (the ham and cheese are already salty) and pepper. Pour over the bread and press down with the back of a spoon so that every cube is well soaked.
6. Sprinkle with the remaining 30 g Emmental and leave to rest for 20 min at room temperature: the bread should soak up almost all the liquid. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 °C. The strata can also wait overnight in the fridge, covered with cling film.
7. Bake for 40 min, until the strata is puffed up and golden brown and the centre no longer wobbles: a knife inserted in the middle should come out with no liquid. If the top browns too quickly, cover it with foil after 25 min.
8. Leave to rest for 5 min out of the oven so the portions hold together, then cut into 4 and serve hot or warm: the crispy edges and soft centre are the whole charm of the dish.