Plain Bread Casserole with Ham and Cheese

In fact, this is an option for using stale bread (fresh bread will make the casserole worse). By the way, such a “puff” dish is called “strata” in foreign cuisines (according to the direct translation of the word “strata”). Simple ingredients, a little effort – and a hearty, mouth-watering breakfast is ready (or maybe dinner, which sometimes turns breakfast into a day off). You can prepare the dish the night before, because it should be kept in the refrigerator for several hours.

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• Eggs – 9 pcs.
  Milk – 2 ¾ cups
  Dijon mustard – 3 tbsp
  Salt – ½ teaspoon.
  Ground black pepper – ¼ teaspoon.
  White, toasted bread (preferably stale) – 12 slices
  Ham, finely chopped – 450 g (1 ½ cups)
  Shredded Gruyere cheese – 1 ½ cups
  (It is better to take the fragrant Swiss “Gruyere” for the casserole, but, as a last resort, use another hard cheese.)
  Grated Parmesan cheese – ¼ cup
  Chopped green onions – ½ cup

Directions

1. Grease your baking dish (or coat with non-stick spray). In a large bowl, beat the eggs with milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Place 6 slices of bread on the bottom of a prepared dish. Sprinkle with ¾ cup ham, ¾ cup Gruyere cheese, 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup green onions. Pour half of the egg and milk mixture. Repeat the layers, starting with the bread and ending with the green onions. Pour in the remaining egg and milk mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Remove the “semi-finished product” from the refrigerator and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature. Cover with foil and bake in oven for 1 hour. Leave the cooked casserole for 10 minutes, and then serve.

Enjoy your meal!