Description

A festively bright breakfast bake full of classic Italian ingredients: crushed tomatoes, sauteed greens, browned mushrooms, and fontina cheese. The longer you allow it to rest before baking, the better it is.

Ingredients

Scale

1 clove garlic, halved crosswise
1/2 T butter
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
Kosher or sea salt
Ground black pepper
2 1/2 T olive oil
20 oz. white button or Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced 1/8″ thick
5 C packed chopped kale or spinach (kale pictured)
Splash of white wine (optional)
4 large eggs
2 1/2 C milk (I used whole)
Large (about 1 lb.) loaf of olive bread or another sturdy bread, cut into about 3/4″ cubes
2 T chopped fresh herbs (I used thyme and sage; parsley, rosemary, and basil would all work well)
1 generous cup grated fontina cheese
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese

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Instructions

Rub a 9 by 13 inch pan all over with the cut sides of the garlic clove, the grease with the butter. Taste the crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper as if you were going to serve it as a sauce.
Heat oil over medium high in a large skillet. When hot, add mushrooms and cook, stirring infrequently, until tender but with some liquid still in the pan, about 7 minutes. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving liquid in the pan. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, add greens, and cook until wilted. For tougher greens, like kale, add a splash of white wine when almost wilted and continue cooking until wine is fully reduced. Remove from heat and season to taste.
Coat the bottom of the baking pan with about 3/4 cup of crushed tomatoes, followed by a layer of one third of the bread cubes. Top with all of the sautéed greens, half the fresh herbs, and half of the fontina. Make another layer, this time bread first (one third of the cubes), 3/4 cup tomato sauce, all the mushrooms, and remaining fontina and herbs. Top with 3/4 cup sauce, remaining bread, remaining sauce, and the blue cheese. Slowly pour the egg mixture over everything so any exposed bread is moistened. Give the pan a gentle shake and press everything down with the back of a spoon.
Cover and refrigerate at least a few hours, or overnight. Bring almost to room temperature before baking at 375 (F) for an hour, or until slightly puffed, just set in the middle, and browning on top. Serve warm, topped with additional fresh herbs if desired. Keeps well as leftovers.

Notes

There is nothing to stop you from having this for dinner. With the bread and eggs, it has the feel of a breakfast casserole, but it’s delightfully satisfying and savory for a casual dinner.

If you use vegetarian cheese, the recipe is vegetarian.

I wouldn’t recommend making this with most gluten free breads, unless you have one that’s particularly sturdy. I haven’t tested it with gluten free bread.

Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 60 mins
Category: Breakfast
Cuisine: Comfort Food