The gluten-free vegan at your holiday brunch doesn’t have to be limited to fruit salad. This plant-based breakfast strata is worthy of your festive table and it comes together easily.
Traditional strata, made with custard-soaked bread, cheese and vegetables, is the inspiration for this savory gluten-free, plant-based casserole. Homemade cashew cream provides the rich, luscious base, not the standard egg custard. Gluten-free pita takes a quick soak in the cream and the whole dish is ready for the oven in minutes. Allergic to cashews? Mix ½ cup plain dairy-free yogurt with 1 cup unsweetened dairy-free milk; use this mixture instead of cashew cream.
*We used two (7.75-ounce) packages of vegan pitas in this recipe.
Vegan Gluten-Free Strata Shopping List
These companies sell gluten-free, plant-based products.
Mozzarella Cheese Shreds
Daiya
Follow Your Heart
Pita Bread
BFree
Yogurt
So Delicious
Not every product sold by every company listed is gluten-free or allergy-friendly. Read ingredient labels. When in doubt, confirm ingredients directly with the manufacturer.
Contributor Kim Lutz is a recipe developer and author of several popular cookbooks, including Welcoming Kitchen (Sterling), Super Seeds (Sterling) and Ancient Grains (Sterling).
Yields 6 servingsIngredients
- ½ cup raw cashews + boiling water to soak
- 1½ cups water
- 8 gluten-free vegan pitas,* cut into roughly 1-inch pieces
- 1 (12-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped, liquid reserved
- 1 cup finely diced onion
- 3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1 cup dairy-free mozzarella shreds
Directions
1Preheat oven to 375°F.
2To make cashew cream, cover cashews in boiling water and let soak 15 minutes. Drain cashews and blend them with 1½ cups fresh water until smooth.
3In a large bowl, toss pita pieces with cashew cream and set aside.
4In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat liquid from marinated artichokes over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté 2 minutes. Add chopped artichoke hearts, spinach, basil, salt and pepper and stir until ingredients are combined and spinach wilts.
5Spread a third of the vegetable mixture in the bottom of an 8x8-inch baking pan. Top with half the soaked pita. Repeat, ending with remaining third of vegetables. Pour remaining cashew cream over the top. Sprinkle dairy-free mozzarella over that.
6Place strata in preheated oven and bake, uncovered, 45 minutes.
7Broil strata 2 minutes to brown the top.
