Monte Cristo Breakfast Casserole
This Monte Cristo casserole layers ham, turkey, and Gruyere cheese between chunks of custard-soaked bread, all baked until golden and topped with confectioners' sugar. Serve with raspberry preserves for that classic sweet-savory twist!
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
- 7 cups bread cubes about 24 ounces
- 10 whole eggs
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 16 oz. leftover cooked ham thinly sliced (or sliced deli ham)
- 16 oz. leftover roast turkey breast thinly sliced (or deli sliced turkey)
- 3 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (12 ounces)
- ½ cup butter melted
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Raspberry preserves
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 225°F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
- Place the bread cubes in a parchment-lined baking pan in a single layer.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes to dry out. If you are using two or three day-old, stale bread then this step is not necessary.
- Remove the bread from the oven and cool. Set aside until needed.
- Combine the eggs, mustard salt, pepper, cream and milk in a food processor or regular blender. Process until well combined, then set aside until needed.
- Arrange the separate dishes of the bread, egg mixture, ham, turkey and cheese on a workspace.
To Assemble the Casserole:
- Add ⅓ of the bread to the bottom of the greased baking dish. Sprinkle ½ of the cheese on the bread, then ½ of ham slices and ½ of the turkey slices. Pour ⅓ of the egg custard over the layer.
- Repeat with another layer: ⅓ of bread, cheese, ham and turkey and ⅓ of the egg custard.
- Process the remaining ⅓ bread cubes crumbs in a food processor or blender. 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.
- Melt the butter in the microwave and drizzle over the top.
- Coat one side of a large piece of foil with oil and cover the casserole, oil side down, and refrigerate overnight.
To Bake the Monte Cristo Casserole:
- 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 foil and bake for another 15 minutes until puffy in the center. A knife 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 side of raspberry preserves
Notes
- Stale bread is best for this recipe as it will absorb the custard easily. If the bread is fresh with excess moisture it should be dried out in the oven before using.
- Choose a firm, rustic bread such as Pugliese or Italian sourdough.
- Remove the crusts from the bread as they will not absorb the liquid well.
- How do you measure 7 cups of bread? One option to measuring the bread chunks is to pile enough bread chunks into your baking dish to fill the dish ¾ full. Then remove the bread until ready to assemble the recipe.
- Pressing the ingredients down with a spatula will help saturate the bread with the custard.
- Do not forget to coat the foil with non-stick oil to keep it from sticking to the top of the casserole.
Nutrition
Calories: 540kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 258mg | Sodium: 1139mg | Potassium: 397mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 973IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 462mg | Iron: 3mg
