Do you celebrate Easter in your household? Do you cook a fabulous feast-like dinner or do you create a fancy brunch to celebrate? This week, I will be sharing a little bit of both with you. Easter is big in my household. It is the most important feast day that we celebrate in our church. We spend Lent fasting and abstaining in remembrance of the sufferings that our Lord took upon himself. We have a feet washing service on Holy Thursday, a solemn, mournful service on Good Friday, a Joyful Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday and a Celebratory Easter Mass on Sunday.
It is a very busy time and planning is crucial if I want to have the family gather around the table for brunch or dinner. That's one of the reasons that I was so pleased that Christie came up with this idea. I know that all of you are just as busy, time constrained and stressed as I during the holidays.
When I was an officer on patrol, working the afternoon shift, we always had an Easter Brunch. I could spend time with my family and enjoy a great meal before heading off to protect and serve. When I got an inside position working days with weekends off, I began having both an early brunch and a late dinner so that all of the family could be there at some time or another during the day. That, my friends, was a lot of work. It only lasted a couple of years before I started celebrating Easter with the family by having a early dinner, around 4-5 pm.
So while, I am having dinner this year the first recipe that I am sharing for this week long celebration is a brunch dish. We may not be having brunch this year for Easter but we do have brunch quite often. I like to get my kids over a couple of times a month for dinner on the weekends. Some months life gets in the way and dinner is not a possibility but they are available to come over for a brunch before their other plans.
I love making stratas for brunch because they are made the day before and then need only be popped into the oven an hour and a half before you are going to serve.
Sausage and Vegetable Strata
1 lb. bulk pork sausage ( I used savory sage flavor)
2 c. fresh spinach
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 med. onion, sliced
10 slices white bread, quartered
8 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
3 c. Colby Jack Cheese
Treat a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray. Place the bread pieces on the bottom, overlapping as necessary.
Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, breaking into bits until no longer pink. Drain any grease from the skillet, retaining sausage. Add the spinach, zucchini and onion to the skillet and cook, stirring for another 5 minutes or so, until veggies are crisp-tender. Layer onto the bread in the baking pan.
Whisk together the eggs and milk with the salt and pepper. Pour over the layers in the baking pan. Sprinkle the cheese over all. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Bake in a preheated 325* oven, covered for 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue to bake for another 45-50 minutes until golden brown and a knife inserted in the center of the strata removes cleanly. Print Recipe
This week, thirteen bloggers are sharing 46 recipes and tips to help you serve up deliciousness this Easter. Follow #EasterRecipes on social media to see what we're serving up!
- Deviled Ham Bites by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
- 30 Minute Dinner Rolls by Amy's Cooking Adventures
- Easy Pecan Sticky Buns by Corn, Beans, Pigs & Kids
- Easy Citrus Ham by Jolene's Recipe Journal
- Sausage and Vegetable Strata by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus With Lemon Herb Sauce by Tip Garden
- Dipped Strawberry Carrots by Family Around The Table
- Easter Malted Milk Dip by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- Sharadan's Lemon Blueberry Parfaits by Cooking With Carlee
- Easter Egg Cooking and Dyeing Tips and Tricks by Palatable Pastime