Sky-high Brunch Bake

My friend Andy over at Life & Whatever sent me the recipe for Sky-high Brunch Bake a few weeks ago, along with the pictures proving its culinary merit. He said it was a cinch to make, that it had infinite possibilites for adding just about any ingredient you might want, and that it was a huge hit at a weekend brunch at his mom's place.

So, I thought it was the perfect thing to make for brunch yesterday when we told my family about the baby. And best of all, you can make it the night before, stick it in the fridge, and bake it the next morning. I must say Andy's looked better than mine did (his had a nice brown color to it) and mine was a little less solid on the inside than his was. So I'd probably recommend cooking it for the full amount of time specified, or maybe even in a little more.



And, if you're interested in seeing a beautiful, bakery-quality loaf of bread, check out the Hearth Loaf photos here on Andy's blog. Or if ciabatta is more your speed, Andy takes you through the entire process, complete with photos, here.

Sky-high Brunch Bake

Ingredients

1 package (17.3 oz) frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
6 eggs
1 cup ricotta cheese
Dash red pepper sauce
2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
4 slices cooked bacon, chopped (could also use 1 cup chopped ham)
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese (could also use shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan)
1 cup chopped red peppers (could substitute roasted red peppers from a jar)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unfold puff pastry sheets and roll out one sheet with rolling pin to about an 11-inch square, and one to about a 12-inch square.

Line bottom and sides of greased 9-inch springform pan with 12-inch pastry sheet

Beat eggs in medium bowl with wire whisk. Reserve 1 TBSP egg, and set aside. Add ricotta cheese, pepper sauce, and spinach* to eggs in bowl and mix until blended.

Layer half each of the bacon, cheese, spinach mixture, and red peppers in pastry-lined pan. Repeat layers.

Place remaining pastry sheet over mixture. Fold and tuck pastry edges into pan to enclose filling. Pinch edges to seal.

Brush surface with reserved egg. Pierce pastry several times to form vents or slits, which will allow steam to escape during baking.

Bake 45-55 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool ten minutes. Run small knife around edge of pan before serving.

Serves 12.

*Blot, blot, blot that spinach before adding it in. Andy did the "blotting of the pumpkin" trick from Dawn's Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe, and I have to say it worked great. Thawed spinach is very wet!

Make-ahead instructions: Assemble as directed; wrap well. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. When ready to serve, unwrap and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Aren't his pictures so much better than mine?



7 Responses to “Sky-high Brunch Bake”

  1. # Anonymous Anonymous

    It sure does look tasty!  

  2. # Blogger Shannon

    Dang, Kristi, that looks tasty! And so gorgeous, I'm surprised you didn't just carry it around with you all day and show it off to everyone you met!  

  3. # Blogger Ramona

    That looks amazingly tasty! I must try that. My mouth is watering!  

  4. # Blogger D

    I wish I could come to your house for brunch! Yummmm! I may have to try that recipe with some of my up coming company.  

  5. # Blogger Kristi

    Clare-I didn't have any, but my guests said it was!

    Shannon-Thanks for stopping by. Those pictures were taken when my friend Andy tried the same recipe. His turned out much more aesthetically pleasing than mine did!

    Ramona-Let me know if you do!

    D-Come on over!  

  6. # Anonymous Anonymous

    I have been looking for sites like this for a long time. Thank you! »  

  7. # Anonymous Anonymous
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