Italian Breakfast Bake

Italian Breakfast Bake

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 oz. crusty Italian artisan bread (approx. ½ of a Kowalski's Take & Bake Bella Ciabatta Loaf)
6 strips Kowalski's Smoked Bacon, chopped into ¼" pieces
¼ cup chopped yellow onions
1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
¾ cup skim milk
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. freshly ground Kowalski's Black Peppercorns
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 dash nutmeg
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese, divided
4 oz. shredded fontina cheese, divided
¼ cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, divided
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs (such as fresh basil and chives), divided
2 tbsp. freshly grated Kowalski's Signature Parmesan Cheese (from the Specialty Cheese Department)
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Directions

Cut bread into ½" cubes; place on a baking sheet. Bake bread cubes in a preheated 425° oven until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally (5-7 min.). Remove from oven; set aside to cool. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp (about 5 min.). Add onion and bell pepper; cook for 5 min. more. Remove from heat; drain and discard fat (or reserve for another use). Set bacon-pepper mixture aside to cool slightly. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, milk, salt, black pepper, cayenne and nutmeg until well combined; set egg mixture aside. Spray a 2 qt. baking dish with cooking spray. Evenly layer ½ of the bread cubes, ½ of the bacon-pepper mixture, ½ of the goat and fontina cheeses, ½ of the tomatoes and ½ of the herbs; repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan; slowly pour egg mixture evenly over top. Cover dish with waxed paper or foil; lightly weigh paper or foil down with bags of shredded cheese or tortillas to keep the bread submerged. Chill overnight in the refrigerator. In a preheated 350° oven, bake until bubbling, puffy and set in the middle (about 40 min.). Remove from oven; let cool for at least 10 min. before slicing and serving.