SPRING IS HERE! For some reason I associated Spring with berries and pies – the kinds you would see on the cover of Southern Living Magazine. Berry pies. Cherry Pies. Strawberry pies. Rhubarb pies. Strawberry – Rhubarb pies. It doesn’t matter. It if looks pretty, I’ll try it. Unfortunately, when it comes to baking a pie, I am a seasoned failure in this area. My solution when I’m craving a homemade berry pie? A berry strata by Giada DiLaurentis, which combines two of my favorite ingredients: bread and berries. It’s a simple, no fuss recipe and it tastes fantastic. It manages to taste gooey and rich while retaining the sweet full fruit flavor from the berries.
Anther reason I love this recipe is because you can make it hours ahead of time and then bake it when you are ready. Recently, I went to my first barbecue of the season and I decided to make this strata. I made it almost exactly according to this recipe except I used 1% milk (that is all I had on hand and it saved a few calories). I used a country-style farm bread from Wegmans and cut it into 1 inch pieces. I may have used more than 4 pieces but I did not use the whole loaf. I probably should have coated the bread more evenly in the mixture and was a little disappointed with myself about it but no one else seemed to mind. I let it refrigerate for about four hours and then I baked it on location at the barbecue. The result was a big hit! I hope you will enjoy it as much as we all did!
Berry Strata
by Giada DiLaurentis
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 4 slices of bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
- 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained
Directions
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off the heat, add the honey, and stir to combine.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the eggs, ricotta, and sugar. Using a fork, mix to combine and beat the eggs. Add the milk, orange juice, butter and honey mixture, and bread. Stir to combine. Gently fold in the berries.
Place the ingredients in a 10-inch round (2-quart) baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the strata until golden on top and baked through, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon into dishes and serve.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the strata until golden on top and baked through, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon into dishes and serve.
(Strata before baking)