Homemade Challah Strata with Rosemary, St. Andre, Gorgonzola, and Pancetta
If I had to choose a last meal on earth, this would be it. Homemade toasted challah bread is smothered with decadent St. Andre cheese combined with crumbled gorgonzola topped with spoonfuls of rosemary and crispy pancetta, finished with a custard type sauce and baked to perfection. You should probably eat this with no music on, no tv, no distractions (just to fully enjoy every bite) with a big glass of bold red wine to wash it down.
Ingredients
3 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
8-10 pieces of 3/4-1″ thick challah bread, cut into chunks
1 1/4 c heavy cream
1 1/4 c milk
Dash of your favorite hot sauce
5 eggs
6 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
8 ounces St. André cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped (sounds like a lot but it hides in the dish well)
Note: the most time consuming parts of this making the challah bread (or just buy it), sauteeing pancetta, toasting bread. It’s quite easy to assemble and you can make it ahead and keep in fridge before baking. Just put in cold oven if you put it in fridge before.
What To Do
Oil the bottom and sides of a 2½-quart soufflé dish, and set it aside.
Chop the pancetta into ½ inch pieces. Sauté over medium-low heat until just crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain well on paper towels, and set aside.
Slice the challah into 1-inch-thick slices. Lightly toast in toaster; set aside.
Whisk together the heavy cream, milk, hot sauce, and eggs in bowl. Set aside.
Place one layer of bread to cover bottom of soufflé dish. Sprinkle with half of the Gorgonzola, half the Saint André, half the rosemary and then half of the reserved prosciutto. Repeat to use up the rest of the bread, cheese and rosemary.
Pour the egg mixture over the layers, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350º.
Uncover the dish, and bake until is bubbling and golden, 40 minutes or till completely cooked through.
Remove the dish from the oven and let it rest 10 minutes before serving.
Note: I halved the pancetta and cheeses and eliminated the heavy cream. I love the decadence and all but the original recipe made me feel too guilty. Original recipe which was even adapted from the original can be found here.
