Monte Cristo-Inspired Breakfast Casserole.
Equipment
- 9 x 9 casserole dish
Ingredients
- 3½ cups bread cubes: sourdough, French bread, or brioche
- 5 large eggs
- 1 tbsp honey mustard
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 16 oz cooked ham, thinly sliced (ham off the bone or deli ham )
- 1½ cups Gruyere cheese or sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
- ¼ cup butter melted
- salt and pepper to taste
- powdered sugar, optional for topping
- Raspberry preserves
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 225°F. Grease a 9×9 baking dish and set aside.
- Place the bread cubes in a parchment-lined baking pan in a single layer.Bake for 20-30 minutes to dry out. If you are using two or three day-old, stale bread you can skip this step . Set aside to cool.
- Combine the eggs, mustard, cream, milk, salt, and pepper and whisk until well combined.
- Process ⅓ bread cubes crumbs in a food processor.
- Add ⅓ of the toasted or stale bread to the bottom of the greased baking dish.Sprinkle ½ of the cheese on the bread.Add ½ of ham slices to the top of the cheese layer.Now pour ⅓ of the egg custard over the layer.
- Repeat with another layer: ⅓ of bread, cheese, ham, and ⅓ of the egg custard.
- Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top and pour the remaining custard over the casserole. With a spatula, press down lightly on the top.Then melt the butter in the microwave and drizzle over the top.
- Coat one side of a large piece of foil with butter and cover the casserole. Refrigerate overnight.
- Heat the oven to 350°F and place the covered casserole dish in the middle position of the oven.Bake covered for 50 minutes, then remove the buttered foil and bake for another 15 minutes until puffy in the center. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Transfer from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with a dollop of raspberry preserves.