Tomato Cheese Strata

Looking for a way to use up those delicious tomatoes? Look no further. This casserole recipe has loads of tomato and flavor. It’s both delicious and gorgeous.

And as an added bonus it uses my favorite cheese, mozzarella.  You might start to think that I love tomatoes with mozzarella. Well guess what? You are correct. Check out my panini recipe for another way to enjoy them together.

The bread combined with butter and seasoning reminds of stuffing which I love. And no I don’t want to think about Thanksgiving yet. But boy, do I love stuffing. And turkey and mashed potatoes. And pumpkin bread. And sweet potato casserole. And time with family. OK. I’ll stop now.

Back to tomato cheese strata. Strata. What an odd word, huh? What is strata, you ask. I had to look it up too.

According to cookthink.com  typically a strata is “bread pudding-like layered comfort food casserole made with eggs, cheese and stale cubed bread (or sometimes hash browns).” However this one does not have eggs. But hey, don’t get mad at me I didn’t name the thing. But I sure do it enjoy.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe passed on to me by my wonderful aunt Toni. And now I am delighted to share it with you!

Love and blessings,

Melanie

Tomato Cheese Strata

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Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 1 long loaf Italian or french bread cut into 1" thick slices
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium green pepper optional
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 8 medium tomatoes sliced
• 1 16 oz package mozzarella cheese cut into 1/4" slices

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400. Arrange bread slices in single later on a cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes or lightly browned, turning slices once half way through.
• Meanwhile, in a skillet melt butter and combine pepper (if using), onion, garlic, sugar, salt, oregano and pepper until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove skillet from heat.
• Remove bread slices from oven and cut bread into 1 inch cubes.
• Grease 9 x 13 baking dish. Place bread cubes in dish. Spoon half of green pepper/onion mixture over bread cubes. Arranging overlapping rows of tomatoes and cheese over greenpepper mixture. Spoon remaining green pepper/onion mixture on top.
• Cover dish with foil and bake for 10 minutes at 400. Uncover. bake 5 minutes longer or until hot and cheese is melted.